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  • Published: 2 July 2024
  • ISBN: 9781529925005
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $30.00

Urban Jungle

Wilding the City, from the author of Metropolis




An eye-opening and urgent re-examination of nature in our cities, from the Sunday Times bestselling winner of the Somerset Maugham Awards

Our modern-day cities might seem to represent our separation from the vitality of the natural world. Yet, as Ben Wilson reveals in this invigorating re-examination of urban landscapes across the globe, nature has always been at the heart of the city.

Moving from Los Angeles and Delhi to Singapore and Amsterdam, Wilson explores how the bond between humans and nature has oscillated throughout history, and shows that – in a time of climate crisis – a new approach to rewilding may prove to be the city’s saviour.

  • Published: 2 July 2024
  • ISBN: 9781529925005
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $30.00

About the author

Ben Wilson

Ben Wilson is the author of five critically acclaimed books, including What Price Liberty?, for which he received the Somerset Maugham Award; the Sunday Times bestseller Empire of the Deep; and, most recently, Heyday: The Dawn of the Global Age. Born in London in 1980, he has worked in television, broadcast on the radio in several countries, and writes regularly for publications such as The Times, Daily Telegraph and Prospect. He lives in Suffolk, UK.

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Praise for Urban Jungle

Delightful, insightful, and easy to read. Wilson shows us that, however distant we feel from nature, we have and will always be part of it.

Arthur Kay, founder and CEO of Skyroom

Imagine if we could see our urban streets with new eyes, start to use every spare space to grow food, carbon-sequestering green, shady areas to cool and make our cities more liveable. This richly researched book shows us this is more possible than we imagine, because Nature is irrepressible and will appear in every crevice at every opportunity to remind us that we cannot live without her.

Sian Sutherland, founder of A Plastic Planet

Wilson provides an array of fascinating examples of urban ecology through the ages... Written in an authoritative yet accessible style, Urban Jungle contains a range of intriguing insights.

Literary Review

A compelling case for bringing more nature into the city.

Tablet

Illuminating... Wilson leaves readers with hope about the future of efforts to preserve the ecosystems that surround us, as well as a new perspective that looks beyond the concrete and asphalt when walking along a city's streets.

Daily Mail

Urban Jungle is a beguiling and beautifully written tapestry of history and ecology examining how cities and the natural world of plants, trees, birds, animals, and insects have co-existed, beneficially and otherwise, since time immemorial.

Country & Town House

Teems with ideas, stories and proposals, presented with charm, eloquence and wit. It is novel and provocative... I was often left wanting more.

The Times

Awe-inspiring in its scope, Wilson's thrilling immersion in the age-old interconnectedness of city and nature is full of wonder, warning and hope - a rallying cry for urban rewilding.

Isabella Tree, author of Wilding

Wilson soars like a falcon over global cities on five continents while leading the reader through centuries of history. Full of statistics and eye-catching examples.

Washington Post