This Volcanic Isle masterfully unpeels the skin of the British landscape to reveal a torrid and turbulent past. It is land famed for its geological antiquity, and yet in journeying through its last 66 million years it is the enduring youthfulness of tectonic, seismic and volcanic actions that constantly surprises and enthrals. Local places and familiar vistas are interwoven with planetary processes in a beautifully written account of how our appreciation of the natural world around us can be immeasurably enhanced by viewing it through rock-tinted spectacles.
Iain Stewart, Geologist and Broadcaster
Robert Muir-Wood's voyage through the past 66 million years of the making of the British landscape has biblical-level drama on almost every other page... What a geological genesis Britain had! ... I defy anyone to close its covers without their interest in Britain's rocky nature being piqued.
John Lewis-Stempel, Country Life
For the most part, Britain exists in a state of tectonic tranquility ... but it was not always thus, as this entertaining new book makes clear. And the evidence of this green and pleasant land's violent past is all around us - you just need to know where ... to look.
Geordie Torr, Geographical
Anyone reading the book should take time to soak in and reflect on its rich content, the observations and resulting deductions and interpretations. It is a fascinating read, different from any geologically based book I have read before, not for the faint hearted, helping the reader understand the various dynamic process that affected the British Isles during the Cenozoic and their impact on the landscapes we know so well today.
Mike Bowman, Geoscientist
Muir-Wood (Univ. College, London) covers both the geologic history of the British Isles in the Cenozoic Era and the human chronicle of the scientists who unraveled that history over hundreds of years. The result is a fascinating, well-structured mélange that will be relevant to educated readers with an interest in either the natural history of the British Isles or the methods that scientists use to unravel such histories. Highly recommended.
Choice