The Hidden Landscape: A Journey into the Geological Past

by Richard Fortey

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"In this book, Richard Fortey peels away the top layer of Britain to reveal the hidden landscape - the rocks which contain the story of distant events which dictate not only the personality of the landscape but the nature of the soil, the plants that grow in it and the regional characteristics of the buildings. We travel with him as our guide throughout the British Isles and as the rocks change so we learn to read the clues they contain- that Britain was once divided into two parts separated show more by an ocean, that Scottish malt whiskey, Harris tweed, slate roofs and thatched cottages can be traced back to tumultuous events which took place many millions of years ago." show less

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Member Reviews

4 reviews
It's strange - I wouldn't have said that this was un-put-downable while I was reading it, but now it's gone, I miss it. I liked the way that Fortey approached his topic, with the caveat that someone who isn't familiar with reasonable stretches of the UK would find it less appealing. It's certainly no field guide, in that you are unlikely to be able to identify particular rocks by looking at them as a result of this book, and it veers towards the palaeontological (unsurprisingly given the author's interests). What it is, outstandingly, is a love letter to the rocks of our nation, and a vociferous plea to notice this rich natural heritage which sits under our feet.
A fantastic book that is more than a book about geology, although it has a lot of geology in it.
It is about how the underlying geology affects so much, the housing, the plants, the landscape we see.
A really good and interesting read. Highly recommended.
Very interesting as well as readable.

Already have a list of people to lend it to as with all the best books.
It's amazing how dull this man can make the geology of Britain. DNF.

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Author Information

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19+ Works 5,434 Members
Richard Fortey is a senior paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London. (Bowker Author Biography)

Awards and Honors

Common Knowledge

Original publication date
1993
Important places
Britain
Disambiguation notice
The blurb in Fortey's 'Life : an unauthorised biography' says his 'The hidden landscape' won the Natural World Book of the Year in 1993. However the BP Natural World Book of the Year that year went to Edward O. Wilson, 'The d... (show all)iversity of life' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_...).

Classifications

Genres
Science & Nature, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Travel
DDC/MDS
554.1Natural sciences & mathematicsEarth sciences; geologyEarth sciences of EuropeBritish Isles - UK, Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland
LCC
QE261 .F67ScienceGeologyGeologyGeneral
BISAC

Statistics

Members
153
Popularity
214,627
Reviews
4
Rating
(4.21)
Languages
English
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
4
ASINs
2