Robert Macfarlane
Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane is a fascinating exploration of what lies beneath our feet. In prose that is eloquent and lyrical, Macfarlane ventures down various underlands to describe what he sees, hears, and experiences.
Macfarlane takes the reader back in time on journeys of descent into the earth to explore what he refers to as deep time, the chronology of the underland or earth’s history. He weaves mythology, anthropology, archaeology, and stories of former explorations into his narrative. His descents include ancient burial sites; a laboratory located half a mile under the earth to search for the presence of ‘dark matter;’ the wood wide web interconnecting roots and fungal networks under the earth; the catacombs and labyrinths under the streets of Paris; underground rivers and caves in Europe; caves in Norway that boast red dancing figures painted on their walls over two thousand years ago; a deep-sea maelstrom; and Greenland’s ice caps and moulins. The underland harbors imprints of man’s incredible achievements thousands of years ago. It also shoulders the damage human activities have caused in recent years.
Earth’s underland is a geological time-keeper that is simultaneously inspiring and humbling, exhilarating and haunting. This breathtaking exploration of what lies beneath our feet raises profound questions about our relationship to the environment and the legacy we leave behind.
A thought-provoking, compelling book full of facts, commentary, and insights underlying the magic and mystery of this fragile blue planet we call home.
Highly recommended.