A rich dowsing-out of a lost river and its stories; a passionate pursuit of landscape ghosts.

A work of extraordinary power and resonance

Passionate, persuasive and personal…it is an elegy to a fascinating world of which many of us have lost sight

Superb book… Its story is an acute example of the criminal disregard our nation has had for these remarkable rivers

Silt Road is that rare ting: a book that is able to marry exacting research with imaginative fluency, told in language as pliant and revealing as water

Sometimes fascinating, often very beautiful, occasionally shocking and sombre… Fans of Robert Macfarlane’s Wild Places will love it (5 star review)

Rangeley-Wilson’s historical excursions are fascinating

Captures lyrically the note of melancholy in the English landscape

Through a slightly eclectic mix of historic record and rueful reflection, [Rangeley-Wilson] has crafted a book which joins the elite of angling books; it holds its own among great books, not just angling books

By turns learned and lyrical, this is a great swirl of a book – luminously well written, and as intriguing as a cabinet of curiosities.

Charles Rangeley-Wilson has a lyrical eye for country, the heron-like patience of the experienced waterman, and the flinty cussedness of the first-rate researcher. Silt Road is a captivating elegy for a lost river, and for the lives through which it flowed.

This remarkable account of a venerated and mistreated English chalk stream is a thousand-year-old detective story of rare beauty and brilliant insight, as though John McPhee had channelled Gilbert White.

The author's passion, underpinned by his deftness of touch, makes the book an utter joy to read

You will be moved and altered by what you read in this groundbreaking book

The language in Silt Road is gorgeous. Throughout the book there are so many fine rhythms – truly musical, poetic beats and phrasing

Local history raised by water power to the status of allegorical memoir... In searching for the Wye, the author is also looking for something that is 'far more deeply interfused'

The author has a fine eye for the telling detail, and an even finer ear; the human noise which drowns out the gentler sounds of nature has seldom been anatomised better

This is an intimate exploration of the interaction between humans and landscape down the ages

A compelling read

A fascinating and fun read

The Knowledge impresses as a condensed history of scientific progress, and will pique curiosity among readers who regret daydreaming throughout school chemistry lessons. Like this reviewer, some will be troubled by their ignorance of the basics, and how useless that could render them if the lights do go out

A hymn to human ingenuity… Essential reading

If the world ends with a bang or a whimper make sure you have a copy of this book to hand, or you won’t have a clue how to survive or kick-start the new civilisation

An engaging and wide-ranging discussion of the scientific discoveries and technological innovations that underpin our lives… Littered with fascinating facts and an infectious enthusiasm for science and technology shines through in the accessible and lively writing… An absorbing thought experiment which celebrates the insight and ingenuity which has made this habitable planet into a civilized world

There is no better guide to the basic science and engineering that underlies our everyday life than this clear and fascinating book

A great idea for a book… Excellent and intriguing

The conceit that this is a handbook for rebooting modern civilization is really just a cute way of framing what turns out to be a terrifically engrossing history of science and technology

There is great depth and insight in The Knowledge, which is brilliantly imaginative and thorough in its study of science and technology

This book should be on everyone’s bookshelf, just in case the worst happens… The one guide you need to rebuild civilisation

an eye-opening dose of fantastical reality