Imperial Mud: The Fight for the Fens

A real page-turner ... a warning about what happens when the rich and powerful dress up their avarice as "progress" - a lesson we could do with learning today. -- Dixe Wills * BBC Countryfile magazine * This book goes straight into my shortlist of books of the year for 2020: no doubt about it. I wish I had written this book but since I didn't, I'm very glad that someone else did so that I could read it. [M]y best read of 2020 so far ... a strong historical account of land use change which any nature conservationist should read. * Mark Avery * Like Patagonia, 'the Fens' has no precise border. This bountiful wetland on the English east coast is a region that most maps cover with a blank. In a masterful and painstaking act of retrieval, James Boyce reclaims the landscape of his fiercely independent forebears. The Fennish, like most indigenous people, left few written records - an absence that makes Imperial Mud even more valuable, as a celebration of their centuries-long resistance against drainage and enclosing landlords; and, above all, of their utterly passionate relationship with the 'common' marsh through which they defined their identity. -- Nicholas Shakespeare Boyce tells the tale with that rare but always winning combination of passion and scholarly vigour. * Geographical Magazine (Book of the Month) * Evocative and imaginatively argued * Sydney Morning Herald, 'Pick of the Week' * A wonderful example of history writing embedded in the narratives of place, in this instance the Fenlands of England and its people, both dramatically altered in the name of dubious progress. * Australian Book Review, Books of the Year 2020 * A lively, affectionate, colourful account of individuals from all walks of life living their lives and particularly standing up for themselves with passion, control and careful planning. -- Natalie Bennett * Resurgence & Ecologist * In telling the story of the people and the lost wetlands, Boyce has provided robust scholarship and rigour which combines with passionate writing to bring the account to a wider audience. In short this volume is incredibly readable as well as being wonderfully entertaining, and not least, informative. -- Ian D. Rotherham * Environment and History *