The Savage Landscape
How We Made the Wilderness
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jul 28, 2026
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A lyrical exploration of the world’s wildest, most forbiddingly remote places—and the humans who have always been there, by an award-winning and critically acclaimed writer
From the blacksand beaches of Iceland, to river crossings deep in the Amazon jungle, to the barren beauty of Antarctica, wildernesses make up some of the world's more alluring natural landscapes. But what is a wilderness, really? It is a powerful, ancient concept, lying at the intersection of landscape, philosophy, and ecology. And for thousands of years, people have sought out uncontrolled, unknown, or uncharted nature in search of religious epiphany, self-actualization, and an escape from modern life. More recently these “pristine” places have been seen as the subject of a last effort to repair a planet imperiled by humans.
But as award-winning writer Cal Flyn traverses the most forbidding, untamed and inhospitable wild lands—the supposedly uninhabited wilds of the world—she finds that such truly untouched lands don't exist: Nearly every wilderness has been or is actively inhabited by humans. Here we meet ascetics in search of theophany in the desert; lonely shepherds running off wolves under the stars; missionaries preaching from shacks deep in the jungle; wise lamas meditating under lofty mountain peaks.
The Savage Landscape takes us into these breathtaking wilds—deep into dark forests, to the tops of mountains, and into the hearts of deserts—asking provocative questions about the nature of wilderness, its preservation, and its meaning.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Flyn (Islands of Abandonment) delivers an exhilarating exploration of the nature and meaning of wild lands. The ideal of untouched wilderness is a myth, she argues, revealing that human history is present in even the most remote landscapes. She travels to deserts, mountains, and forests around the world to demonstrate how humanity's conception of wilderness has changed over time. A trip to Egypt's Mount Sinai elucidates wilderness's ancient roots as a symbol of penance and renewal, as she discusses how people would search the desert for spiritual insight. In medieval times, wilderness came to be associated with the supernatural, as Flyn demonstrates through her visit to Transylvania, where people once believed werewolves and witches inhabited the woods. Over time, as the world industrialized and urbanized, efforts were made to preserve natural landscapes—at first, for the sake of aesthetics and recreation and then, as environmental anxiety grew, to protect natural resources and biodiversity. However, the global conservation movement has displaced millions of people from their homelands, according to Flyn. In Uganda, for example, efforts to protect mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest led to the removal of Indigenous Batwa forest people, who then became destitute. Throughout, Flyn blends exciting travel writing with deep philosophical discussions. Readers will be forced to rethink what wilderness is and whom it benefits.
