Underland

by Robert Macfarlane
Underland cover
Good Books rating 4.23
Travel and Adventure
Technical:
  • ID: 642
  • Added: 2025-09-18
  • Updated: 2025-09-18
  • ISBN: 9780241146422
  • Publisher: Penguin UK
  • Published: 2019-05-02
  • Formats: 1
  • Reviews: 3
Buy online
Waterstones
Paperback • £12.99

Underland takes readers on an extraordinary voyage into the planet's underworld, from the icy depths of Greenland's glaciers to the intricate underground networks of tree communication. Robert Macfarlane delves into the planet's past and future, uncovering the secrets of Bronze Age burial chambers and the enigmatic rock art of remote Arctic sea-caves. This is a deep-time exploration that is as gripping in its narrative as it is profound in its implications, offering a unique perspective on the landscapes that shape our world and our human experience. Macfarlane's writing is hailed as a new genre in itself, blending travel, nature, and poetry to create a work of immense range and power. Underland is not just a journey into the underland but also a reflection on the human heart and our connection to the natural world. It's a book that invites readers to look beneath the surface and discover the hidden wonders of our planet.

Reviews
TOAST Book Club · Jen Campbell · 2019-08-28
beguiling 4.00

The book is both beguiling and unsettling, offering a deep exploration of the Earth's underworlds. The reviewer finds it both captivating and disorientating.

Jen Campbell finds Underland to be a deeply engaging read that is both beguiling and unsettling. She appreciates how Macfarlane's exploration of the Earth's underworlds is both thorough and imaginative. However, she also notes that the book can be disorientating at times, requiring the reader to be flexible and open to surprise. Overall, she finds the journey through the underland to be a thought-provoking and memorable experience.

Quick quotes

    His latest book, titled Underland: A Deep Time Journey, is as beguiling as it is unsettling.

    Reading the book is a disorientating reflection of Macfarlane's journey through substrata.

    It requires flexibility and a willingness to be surprised.

The Guardian · 2019-05-08
dazzling 4.50

The prose is beautifully chiselled and has an epic, incantatory quality. It beautifully captures the wonder and horror of the underland.

The reviewer is captivated by the lyrical and incantatory prose that Macfarlane employs throughout the book. They feel that the writing is so beautiful that it can sometimes feel like a spell being cast. The reviewer also appreciates how the book captures the dual nature of the underland, highlighting both its beauty and its horror. They find that Macfarlane's exploration of these themes is both profound and thought-provoking.

Quick quotes

    At its best, this has an epic, incantatory quality.

    There is a rare gift at work here: chiselled prose of such beauty that it can, on occasion,

    Macfarlane has a rare gift for capturing the wonder and horror of the underland.

Goodreads · 2019-05-02
haunting 4.20

The book delivers an epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds, blending myth, literature, memory, and the land itself. The reviewer finds it both gripping and haunting.

The reviewer on Goodreads highlights that Underland is an epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds, seamlessly blending myth, literature, memory, and the land itself. They find the book to be both gripping and haunting, with a global geography that adds to its depth and power. The reviewer appreciates the remarkable range and the haunting implications that Macfarlane brings to the table, making it a memorable read.

Quick quotes

    In Underland, Robert Macfarlane delivers an epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land itself.

    Global in its geography, gripping in its voice and haunting in its implications.

    A work of huge range and power, and a remarkable journey.

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