A TIMES AND TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR'Beautifully written movingly told and meticulously
researched ... a convincing plea for a wilder richer world' Isabella Tree author of
Wilding'By the time I'd read the first chapter I'd resolved to take my son into the woods
every afternoon over winter. By the time I'd read the sixth I was wanting to break prisoners
out of cells and onto the mossy moors. Losing Eden rigorously and convincingly tells of the
value of the natural universe to our human hearts' Amy Liptrot author of The OutrunToday many
of us live indoor lives disconnected from the natural world as never before. And yet nature
remains deeply ingrained in our language culture and consciousness. For centuries we have
acted on an intuitive sense that we need communion with the wild to feel well. Now in the
moment of our great migration away from the rest of nature more and more scientific evidence
is emerging to confirm its place at the heart of our psychological wellbeing. So what happens
asks acclaimed journalist Lucy Jones as we lose our bond with the natural world-might we also
be losing part of ourselves? Delicately observed and rigorously researched Losing Eden is an
enthralling journey through this new research exploring how and why connecting with the living
world can so drastically affect our health. Travelling from forest schools in East London to
the Svalbard Global Seed Vault via primeval woodlands Californian laboratories and
ecotherapists' couches Jones takes us to the cutting edge of human biology neuroscience and
psychology and discovers new ways of understanding our increasingly dysfunctional relationship
with the earth. Urgent and uplifting Losing Eden is a rallying cry for a wilder way of life -
for finding asylum in the soil and joy in the trees - which might just help us to save the
living planet as well as ourselves.
