<p><i><b>SHORTLISTED FOR BLACKWELL'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025</b></i><br /><b><i>SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING 2025<br />SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2026</i></b><br /><br /><b>From celebrated writer Robert Macfarlane comes this brilliant, perspective-shifting new book - which answers a resounding <i>yes</i> to the question of its title.</b><br /><br />At its heart is a single, transformative idea: that rivers are not mere matter for human use, but living beings - who should be recognized as such in both imagination and law.<i&gt; Is a River Alive?</i> takes the reader on an exhilarating exploration of the past, present and futures of this ancient, urgent concept.<br /><br />The book flows first to <b>northern Ecuador</b>, where a miraculous cloud-forest and its rivers are threatened by goldmining.<br /><br />Then, to the wounded rivers, creeks and lagoons of <b>southern India</b>, where a desperate battle to save the lives of these waterbodies is under way.<br /><br />And finally, to <b>north-eastern Quebec</b>, where a spectacular wild river - the Mutehekau or Magpie - is being defended from death by damming in a river-rights campaign.<br /><br /><b>At once Macfarlane's most personal and most political book to date, <i>Is a River Alive?</i> will open hearts, spark debates and lead us to the revelation that our fate flows with that of rivers - and always has.<br /><br />2025 BOOK OF THE YEAR ACCORDING TO SPECTATOR, I PAPER, ECONOMIST, ESQUIRE, TIME<br /><br /><i>SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2026<br />SHORTLISTED FOR THE SHERBORNE PRIZE FOR TRAVEL WRITING 2026</i></b><br /><b><i>LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2026</i></b></p>