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Shadowlands: A Journey Through Britain's Lost Cities and Vanished Villages Hardcover – July 19, 2022

by Matthew Green (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 468 ratings
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One of Literary Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2022

A “brilliant London historian” (BBC Radio) tells the story of Britain as never before―through its abandoned villages and towns.

Drowned. Buried by sand. Decimated by plague. Plunged off a cliff. This is the extraordinary tale of Britain’s eerie and remarkable ghost towns and villages; shadowlands that once hummed with life. Peering through the cracks of history, we find Dunwich, a medieval city plunged off a cliff by sea storms; the abandoned village of Wharram Percy, wiped out by the Black Death; the lost city of Trellech unearthed by moles in 2002; and a Norfolk village zombified by the military and turned into a Nazi, Soviet, and Afghan village for training.

Matthew Green, a British historian and broadcaster, tells the astonishing tales of the rise and demise of these places, animating the people who lived, worked, dreamed, and died there. Traveling across Britain to explore their haunting and often-beautiful remains, Green transports the reader to these lost towns and cities as they teeter on the brink of oblivion, vividly capturing the sounds of the sea clawing away row upon row of houses, the taste of medieval wine, or the sights of puffin hunting on the tallest cliffs in the country. We experience them in their prime, look on at their destruction, and revisit their lingering remains as they are mourned by evictees and reimagined by artists, writers, and mavericks.

A stunning and original excavation of Britain’s untold history, Shadowlands gives us a truer sense of the progress and ravages of time, in a moment when many of our own settlements are threatened as never before.

16 illustrations; 3 maps
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    368 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    July 19, 2022
  5. Dimensions
    6.3 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393635341
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393635348
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Beguiling…Shadowlands is not just a travelogue of scenic obsolescence. En route, the book offers us a gripping overview of humankind’s seemingly unstoppable evolution from primitive but harmless nomad to the rapacious bureaucrat in charge of civic planning in your neighborhood today."
― Elizabeth Lowry, Wall Street Journal

"[Green] visits eight ruined British settlements…[S]uch lost places are not mere historical curios…they provide cautionary tales about sustainability."
― New Yorker

"If you told me that British historian Matthew Green was some kind of delightful English Calvino who’d conjured up an odd fictional encyclopedia of disappeared cities, lost towns, and ghostly villages, I’d still want to read this book…[I]t is worth spending a little time with history’s stark examples of time’s dominion over us all."
― Jonny Diamond, Literary Hub

"Through these slices of British history, Green has woven a moving exploration of impermanence, memory, and the hypnotic allure of the past."
― Sara Shreve, Library Journal (starred review)

"Full of evocative imagery and fascinating lore, this vibrant account eulogizes the past and issues a stark warning for the future."
― Publishers Weekly

"Shadowlands is so well researched, beautifully written, and packed with interesting detail. Matthew Green is both historian and prophet, offering a warning we need to pay attention to.… Alarming and valuable."
― Claire Tomalin, author of Charles Dickens: A Life

"Superb. A beautifully written atlas of Ghost Britain, a summoning of places lost to memory, and a deft excavation of the void underlying myths of national identity."
― William Atkins, author of The Immeasurable World

"A haunting, lyrical tour around the lost places of Britain."
― Charlotte Higgins, author of Under Another Sky

"An exquisitely written, moving, and elegiac exploration of the dead ends and lost causes of history―a book to savor and cherish."
― Suzannah Lipscomb, author of The King Is Dead: The Last Will and Testament of Henry VIII

"A beautiful book, truly original. Shadowlands is poetic history written with great literary flair, inqusitiveness, soul-searching and humanity…It is a marvelous achievement."
― Ian Mortimer, author of The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England

"A haunting work of resurrection, stinging in a perpetual present. Shamanic consciousness for the borderlands of memory."
― Iain Sinclair, author of The Last London

From the Back Cover

Praise for Shadowlands from Great Britain

"A beautifully written, intelligent book, and it is offered as a warning as well as a memorial."
― James McConnachie, Sunday Times

"An eloquent tour of lost communities…[Green] disinters their rich history and reimagines the lives of those who walked their streets…By doing so, he makes tangible the tragedy of their loss and the threat we all face from the climate crisis."
― P. D. Smith, Guardian

"Fascinating…[A] sobering reminder of earthly transience…Shadowlands is a well-researched, highly readable history whose deepest import may be premonitory."
― Nat Segnit, TLS

"Startling…Often playful in tone, Shadowlands nonetheless has a serious purpose…[It] offers an urgent reminder of what may lie ahead as a result of climate change and rising sea levels."
― Miranda Seymour, Financial Times

"Gripping…Shadowlands is both meticulously researched and vividly imagined. The author has a novelist’s gift for bringing the past alive."
― Fiona Rintoul, The Herald

"Consistently interesting [and] thought-provoking…Green’s passion and historical vision bursts from the page, summoning up the past in surround sound and sensual prose."
― Cal Flyn, The Times

"This is an outstanding book, bursting with fascinating information. It's unobtrusively poignant and gently philosophical."
― Jake Kerridge, Mirror

"[E]ncompasses the totality of human existence…[Green's] knowledge and enthusiasm are obvious."
― Gillian Tindall, Literary Review

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company (July 19, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393635341
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393635348
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.32 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 468 ratings

About the author

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Matthew Green

Matthew Green

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Dr Matthew Green is a historian, writer and broadcaster with a doctorate from Oxford University. He has appeared in documentaries on the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, and has written for the Guardian, Financial Times and Telegraph. He is the founder of Unreal City Audio, which produces immersive tours of London as live events and podcasts. He lives in London.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
468 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Sarah Correia
5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating topic
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2023
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I very much enjoyed this book which I found out about on I think a history blog. The seller sent it right on time, too. Will be looking to see what else they have soon.
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Wannabe artist
4.0 out of 5 stars Poorly edited
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2023
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The book is not quite what I expected. It explores in great depth the history surrounding the locations covered. It is written by an academic, and it shows! It is heavily footnoted, like a research paper. The author also uses words not in common parlance, and one of them, I suspect was made-up! The publisher is a small one. Had it been one of the major ones, the editing and proofreading would have been more rigorous. It has a number of minor errors, but it only affects a proofreader like me!
One person found this helpful
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Yasmin Salas
5.0 out of 5 stars An immersive and entertaining journey of Britains lost cities!!!
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2022
This is an expansive, poignant, and well researched book about 8 of Britains past towns and settlements that have fallen to the sands of time. Neolithic Skara Brae fallen to climate change. The villages in Norfolk taken over as mock up army sites, morphing according to our appetite for conflict. Capel Celyn village in Wales, drowned to make way for a new reservoir. The bustling medieval port of Winchelsea, washed away, and the Isolated island of St Kilda abandoned are some of my favorite. Dr. Green has written a fascinating book with alarming insights into climate change and humanity's capacity for catastrophe. At the same time, it is surprisingly hopeful and entertaining. Thoroughly recommend.
6 people found this helpful
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K. Russ
3.0 out of 5 stars I thought I'd like it but the writing is very dry
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2022
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I thought I'd like it but the writing is very dry. Just not for me.
One person found this helpful
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E. Lascola
4.0 out of 5 stars loved it
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2022
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Really descriptive and fascinating. Lots of information.
2 people found this helpful
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Mr. Tulkinghorn
5.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical, Beautiful Portrait of Forgotten Places and People
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2022
This is a wonderfully written, well-researched book from social historian and broadcaster, Matthew Green. There are moments of hilarity mixed with terribly moving passages and fascinating detail.

I would not normally engage with other reviews, but to the extent that the book is being criticized for acknowledging the likely impact of our changing planet on existing settlements, its point is rather being made for it.

Highly recommend!
5 people found this helpful
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TinyWanda
1.0 out of 5 stars It is a color without a name ( ! ) ?
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2023
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This should have been an absolutely fabulous book and I should have absolutely loved it, because I love things like this !
I have read many books of this variety and I love all of them without reservation, but I have started on this book at least three times and by the end of the first chapter, I just get so bogged down and dispirited by the writing style that I have to put it aside for a month or so and then I'll try to get back to it and it's just... There's something wrong about it ???
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HankHank
1.0 out of 5 stars I wanted a history book, not an author’s anguished soul
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2022
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This book is trying way too hard to be profound. Just tell your story man, and get out of the way. The author’s thoughts aren’t profound, they’re boiler plate climate panic that just comes across as boring. It’s a dang shame too, because there’s a kernel of fascinating stuff here, but the author keeps getting in the way of the tale he has to tell.
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Peter Beckett
4.0 out of 5 stars The history and passing of some of Britain's ancient cities and villages.
Reviewed in Canada on November 14, 2022
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Excellent research and storytelling of some of Britain's lost cities and villages. Amazing depth of study has gone in to make this a great historical data filled book. Might have laboured a bit too long on the Stanford Training area in Norfolk used in WW2 and then afterwards as well, interesting though. But this does not take away from the whole book.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Good and very interesting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2023
Verified Purchase
CW for this book: there are two specific short sections in chapters 6 and 7 which cover animals suffering a tortured death.

For a book covering 8 instances of ostensibly the same thing - the disappearance of a British settlement - these are all fascinating and different.

The writing is definitely a little over the top at times, leaning too much into prose maybe but I found I jelled well with it. However I can imagine it might annoy some.

I saw one reviewer was not a fan because they found it kept coming back to wars and lacked for female perspectives. While it's true of some of the earlier chapters, I didn't think it so of the latter ones. Still, I am a man (and do find war interesting in history) so it's maybe less surprising I wouldn't be as quick to feel that.
3 people found this helpful
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Tranearth
4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting book full of historical facts
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 27, 2024
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An interesting book full of history.
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An enlightening journey from past to future
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2022
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This is an expansive literary journey that takes us from odd, underground labyrinth of Neolithic Skara Brae all the way through to our possible, imminent future on the frontier of climate emergency. Without over-labouring the point, Matthew Green invites us to consider instability, change, and loss through time as it is intimately connected to shifting climates, coastlines, economic pressures and land-use choices.

Personally, I liked the literary style of the book; elements of narration and speculative imaginings that give historic accounts space to breathe and come to life. There's a sense of gore and folk horror, infusing the book with a distinctly gothic atmosphere, the feeling of being watched amongst the ruins by the carrion eaters. The tinge of melancholy is mirrored in the author's own journey as his travels to the places he explores in the book become more-than-research trip, a kind of lonely pilgrimage.

Ultimately though, Shadowlands seems hopeful and perhaps reassuring, depending on your own view of the future. Either we can attend to our present concerns armed with our knowledge of the past, or we can, at the very least, be comforted by that peculiar sensation that accompanies our contemplation of the deep past; that all things must go through a process of change and decay, yet people, animals and even places will endure despite the many challenges we face.
8 people found this helpful
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Podiceps cristatus
3.0 out of 5 stars More Social and Political History then Natural History.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 7, 2022
Verified Purchase
This book is shortlisted for a Wainwright nature prize and whilst is does cover areas lost to natural forces, and the problems that climate change will likely bring in the future, I felt the book to be far more a social and political history. Not surprising I suppose as the author is a historian.

It took time for me to complete the reading as I kept putting it aside having come up with some dry reading. Not a sign of an enthralling read in my opinion. I have to say however that the chapters concerning St Kilda, Winchelsea and to a lesser extent Skara Brae were excellent and gave me a fine understanding of the communities living in each area. Had the rest of the book been up to that standard I would not have hesitated in giving five stars. Unfortunately I found it was not. I was disappointing with the chapter concerning Dunwich and have gained little feeling for the place. I found some other chapters dry and boring. The idea of each chapter dealing with a separate town or village was a good one, but for the reasons I state above didn't quite work for me. I finished the book a disappointed reader. I would also mention that the reference to Fulmars being gulls is incorrect. When I find such obvious errors in a book I wonder how many more I may have missed. I'll be shocked if this book wins the Wainwright Prize.
27 people found this helpful
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