There are a large number of English histories on the market but discussions about internationalism, ownership and the individual power of the people are becoming very common in 2019 and on. I think this would be a great seller for that crowd.

Who Owns England? Is a fascinating exploration of land ownership in England, and occasionally Wales. You’d think the question of who owns what wouldn’t be all that difficult to answer, but no, England’s history of land ownership and land reform is likely one of the most convoluted in the world. Land ownership continues to be shrouded in secrecy, and despite its formation in 1861, HM’s Land Registry remains incomplete. This book recounts Shrubsole’s attempts to map the landowners of England as well as the history of land itself in England, which remains tied to the aristocracy and archaic traditions.

Throughout his investigation, Shrubsole emphasises environmental protection, housing affordability and tax evasion as issues of key importance, and unsurprisingly is no fan of Margaret Thatcher. Each chapter explores a different type of land ownership such that Crown Land, farming, corporate ownership and the average homeowner are given consideration. While I had no real ideas of land reform before going in, I came out convinced that changes can and need to be made. The best part of this book is that provides viable solutions and policy changes, and it’s made me finally register for postal vote to do what I can from Australia.

Bottom line: this is a passionate and informative look into land ownership in England, and you’ll come out realising there’s far more that should and can be done for housing affordability and the environment.

A fascinating investigation into land and property ownership in England. It's a wide ranging and surprising account which embraces Government departments, Russian Oligarchs, Sheikhs, grouse hunting estates, entrepreneurs and, of course, the aristocracy.

Despite what I used to believe, the landed aristocracy remain remarkably adept at retaining their land and other assets - many have owned the same estates they acquired as part of the Norman landgrab in the 11th century. I was less surprised to discover that many landowners use off shore companies to avoid tax and hide their ownership, and trusts and other ruses to sidestep inheritance rules.

Who Owns England? is written in an entertaining and accessible style which belies the amount of data it contains. It also takes many diverting yet interesting digressions. For example, the network of underground tunnels in central London, obscure MOD testing sites, the "lost villages" of WW2 from which residents were forcibly evicted and, despite promises, never allowed to return.

Who Owns England? is a brave, important, timely and hopeful book. It contains information all citizens should understand and also practical suggestions to achieve a more equitable and sustainable future.

5/5

This is a fascinating and important book. I confess I was in the dark about most of the information the author reveals here, and on almost every page I found information that made me gasp with astonishment. I read it during lockdown, at a time when a lot of people are hoping we can re-set our way of life to reduce inequality (particularly the issues around homelessness) and damage to the planet. The solutions put forward by the author seem essential to me if we are to achieve this. I hope it will be read widely.

I'll be recommending this to everyone. Thanks to the author and to Netgalley for the ARC.

A much needed battle cry for contemporary Britain, I loved this. All the best people recommend it, which is a sign that this book is shouting in the right direction.

This book appealed to me because I had read Andy Wightman’s excellent “Who Owns Scotland?” It was probably only a matter of time before someone looked to the rest of Great Britain. Guy Shrubsole’s writing style is less formal than Wightman’s. It’s written in what I would term Sunday supplement style, ie chatty and easy to read. He looks at major landowners in turn - the Church, the Crown, the aristocracy, the MOD, nature and land conservation agencies, and so on.

Little of what I read introduced anything that was news to me. The most interesting chapter by far concentrates on land held in trust by bodies committed to protecting and conserving our wild spaces and species. I didn’t know that the financier Charles Rothschild is responsible for introducing the concept of the nature reserve of which there are now 2,300 across England and Wales.

The book ends with ‘an agenda for English land reform’ (Wales drifts in an out of this book - sometimes part of the agenda, sometimes not) in which he sets out 10 aims ranging from, to select a few in no particular order, ending the secrecy around land ownership in England to fixing the housing crisis, the farming system (I wholly support ending the scandalous subsidies handed out to wealthy landowners for doing nowt), restoring nature’s abundance, curbing corporate use of land as an asset, and the introduction of open access to match that in Scotland. The Right to Roam is well established in Scotland and there are few areas that are not open access for all. In England and Wales, however, despite new access laws introduced in 2000, only 10% of land is open access and the percentage diminishes the further south you travel. It’s an impressive, blue sky agenda but sadly not realistic.

This is a fairly short book, dense with references and statistics at times, and the writing style wasn’t to my taste.. 40% of the book consists of the appendices and reference notes at the end. I read the ebook and enjoyed following the links to various websites for more information.

Who owns England? is a thought-provoking and meticulously researched book by Guy Shrubsole, that will surprise most readers and shock more than a few. While most of us are aware that a few people people own most of this green and pleasant (or at least the bits the rich own) land but the covert nature of that ownership and the amount of taxpayer's money thrown at already vastly rich landowner's pretty much just because they own a lot of land is quite mind-blowing. Shrubsole more than once makes the very pertinent point that the land these people keep the rest of us from ,while accepting large amounts of our tax money, is quite often land inherited by them that was stolen by force by William the Conqueror during the Norman invasion and handed out to his cronies as booty.. As I read I was just thinking that the Feudal system in this country still exists when I came across the same thought written by the author.
Aside from the estates owned by the aristocracy Shrubsole tells of the empty houses in London sitting making vast profits for their, often dodgy, owners while people sleep in the streets nearby and wait on never-ending housing lists, the vast swathes of land owned by the military , the land scourged for Grouse shoots and the misguided farming of the Lake district.
While this is a tale of greed,selfishness and how Britain has still not moved on from the old meritocracy it's not "just a moan" and Shrubsole details his 10 point plan for a fairer system, a plan that makes a lot of sense but has to overcome the self-interest of influential people (i.e. rich people) to stand any chance of implementation.
A fascinating read that hopefully will lead to action as more people become aware of quite how unbalanced the whole issue of land ownership is in this country.

Thanks to Guy Shrubsole, publishers William Collins and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

So much research has gone into this book and it is packed with information. The secrecy of land ownership in England is a fascinating topic, especially when you read about the history of how it was/ wasn't shared out and how it continues to be misused. I found the information regarding common land and glebe land quite a revelation. I love the idea of making more allotments available too. There are so many important points made in this book, I hope it makes a difference. Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and the publisher, William Collins for an ARC.

A committed, engaging and extremely well-informed account of the inequity that persists in land ownership in England and its enduring effects. It's also full of startling observations, such as the claim that far less than 1 per cent of the population (25,000 landowners) own half of England. As he writes,, 'England's an old country and large parts of it continue to live in the past'. It would be nice if this kind of clear, accessible examination could help us to look forwards.

A timely and fascinating insight to land ownership in England, both now and in the past. For example homeowners only own 5% of land whereas overseas land ownership accounts for 17%.

The author also puts forward his own ten point plan on proposed changes to land ownership. It seems entirely reasonable and doable, the biggest challenge being to overcome the opposition from the minority of landowners who currently own the majority of the land.

A book everyone should read. Well researched and an easy read. Put a perspective on the history of England that we should be aware of. Thought provoking.

Absolutely fascinating look at land ownership in England.This is a look at England’s elite land owners..How this rich class of land owners came to be.This is so well written so involving the author makes a strong case for land reform.#netgalley #4thestatebooks.

Land reform is something I hadn't given much thought to before, but Guy Shrubsole really won me over with this book.

Guy's passion for the environment and social justice fuels this polemic; through each chapter he covers another type of land ownership, from the aristocracy, to the state, to the Anglican Church, to corporate entities. Until I read this book, I'd never considered how who owns land can affect climate change, biodiversity, economic inequality, the welfare state, or our own freedoms.

With potted histories and his own research, Guy delivers a convincing argument that we need to take back control of our land, if we also want to make our country a better - and fairer - place.

While it's informative, it's also very accessible and I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone I know. Thanks go to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy of this book - I'll be buying my own very soon.

Having thoroughly enjoyed the land law module of my law degree well over a decade ago due to its complexities and nuances I was eager to learn more about this fascinating area, and this book seemed like the ideal opportunity to do so. Guy Shrubsole uncovers how for centuries the wealthy have undertaken nefarious acts in order to get their hands on the land they desired. Open your mind to the fact that by changing how land ownership operates we can begin to address some of the crises of our time: the climate emergency currently underway and the shortage of affordable housing; once again equality simply does not exist in relation to ownership of land. Some of the factors that influence ownership are corruption, power, wealth, secrecy and links to the criminal underworld.

Despite the fact I have prior knowledge on the law regarding all things land, this is a very accessible read for those with none. I wasn't sure whether it would be quite dry given the topic and having not read anything from Shrubsole before, but it was fascinating more than anything. The author is a friends of the earth activist/campaigner and writer and certainly seems to know what he's talking about when it comes to this topic. For centuries land ownership has been shrouded in mystery and Mr Shrubsole makes a compelling case for reform and some very intriguing and effective ways as to how to begin the reforms process.

A thought-provoking, eye-opening and information-rich debut work; full of information we all should know about our country and an interesting history lesson to boot. If you are seeking to learn the truth about the situation then matters will be greatly clarified by Who Owns England? instead of the continued fobbing off society receives via politicians who have a vested interest in hiding the truth. Many thanks to William Collins for an ARC.