This is such a fascinating book. I simply adore when nature recalls the earth. It honestly makes for some of the most beautiful photographs.

In islands of abandonment we get to take a look at some of the world's most renowned abandoned locations such as chernobyl and others that I had previously never heard of.

The essays in this book are well written and thought provoking.

As alway, thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review

A fascinating look at what happens in even the most toxic places on earth once humans have abandoned them, and how mother nature really is a force to be reckoned with, as Flyn takes you on a trip around the globe to see how nature takes over once man is gone.
From well known sites such as Chernobyl and the Salton Sea to lesser known (to me at least!) areas such as the Five Sisters in Scotland and the Old Fields in Estonia, it's initially depressing to read how mankind has made such a mess of the world. But there is hope, and that was the great thing about this book - no matter how much man seems to destroy things, once he's gone, nature will always prevail. This hope for a better future, with or without mankind, at least gives me hope for the future of our planet. Whether mankind is around to see that brighter greener future remains to be seen.

Starting close to home, with the island of Inchkeith in the Firth of Forth, followed by The Five Sisters shale bings in West Lothian, Cal Flyn invites us on a tour of 12 places around the world that are recovering from human intervention and being reclaimed by nature. Some are literal islands, others enclaves that bear the traces of human impact but have returned to a wilderness of some sort. Contrary to what its subject matter might evoke, Islands of Abandonment is far from being a morbid book, but strives instead to deliver a hopeful message. What is certain is that it makes both for an eerie and a fascinating read.

I really enjoyed this nature book (but "not one that rhapsodies upon the allure of the untouched") with a twist, where Cal Flyn explores various abandoned (or semi-abandoned) places: Scotland, Tanzania, Detroit, Chernobyl, Slab City... I found her approach, blending expert opinions and stories, and her personal experience visiting these places, engaging and interesting - I particularly liked her reflections on de-domestication (in Swona, Scotland, where she observes cattle 'gone wild' after being left to fend for themselves forty years ago), her considerations on what the environmental crisis might bring in terms of disaster, and how environments heal and transform after being abandoned by men. It is well-written, dynamic and thoughtful.

Cal Flyn's 'Islands of Abandonment' is a brilliant mix of travel, nature and science writing, in which she explores the impact of human abandonment on twelve places. These sites are abandoned for all sorts of reasons - nuclear meltdown, volcanic eruption, war, population shrinkage, the collapse of collective farms following the fall of the USSR - and Flyn's discoveries are surprising: sometimes sobering, sometimes hopeful, often both. As Flyn observes, "human crises such as war and nuclear disaster have produced exclusion zones that serve, effectively, as strict nature reserves - the absence of people, startlingly, proving more beneficial to an environment than contamination or minefields deleterious."

Flyn describes the speed with which nature recovers when left to its own devices, whilst never fully reverting to its original form. Her insights are wide-ranging - she writes authoritatively about topics including genetics, climate change, biodiversity, industrialisation, volcanology and evolutionary, in terms that are fully accessible to a layperson. She combines a scientist's precision with a poet's sensibility, making this an immensely enriching, and at times moving, book to read. I was particularly struck by her descriptions of the feral cattle on the island of Swona, who are observed to mourn when one of their number dies, a moment which offers us "insight into the weight afforded to death among a species we farm and slaughter on an industrial scale."

Insights like these occur in each of Flyn's twelve chapters, and she frequently finds glimpses of light amidst the darkness of our world, without sugar-coating the scale of human folly or the environmental crisis we are facing. This is one of the most impressive non-fiction books I have read in a long time - many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital review copy.

This is SO interesting, I am definitely going to buy this on audio too so I can listen to it multiple times - I feel like I'd pick up something different each time. Really enjoyed learning about these bonkers places!

Islands of Abandonment describes settings of apocalyptic scenes which are planet harbours in clutches around the world now. Their source of manufacture are honed primarily by man, be it through forbidden experiments, nuclear meltdown, toxic contamination, warfare, political or social collapse. Gaia can also wield destruction, through tectonic forces & biological toxicity. All of these could be the backdrop any novel, a thrilling end of civilisation.

Flyn gives a first person perspective of these landscapes. She hires a car, travels out to them to observe what she sees and talk to the natives which have been left behind. Her observations are velvet for the imagination; her descriptions vivid, visceral and tactile. She personifies the environment to root you in place “Trees burst from the bodies of their fallen ancestors. Vampiric strangling figs throw woody limbs around their victims’ shoulders, bleed them dry.”

For all the thrilling darkness, this work focuses on the good which sprouts from the bad, the silver lining to any dark cloud. Ecosystems which come up without the guidance of mankind. The natural world is adapting to the forces which we, as a species, throw up. It does not defend the corrupting nature of mankind, or write off the destruction as healable, but offers a glimpse, where after every eclipse in the past, where darkness and destruction reduced the biodiversity of the planet, the sun shined after and what was left evolved to fill the spaces left behind.

A triumph of writing & a well researched text. Highly recommended for those who love the apocalyptic genre, environmental studies or care for the planet. Five stars!

Wow, what a fascinating book. The author takes us off to locations all over the World. We see the raw damage and destruction that has been done to nature through previous habitation and also climate change and disaster and how these places have been abandoned. But there is also a hopefulness to this tale as we learn of eg. Ecosystems in place- plants and animals and the hoped revival of the areas.
The author has done a great job of showing both sides. The descriptions are detailed and enhanced by the images. Certainly a book that makes you reflect on the environment and the impact we have.
My thanks go to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing this arc in return for a honest review.

A wonderful book. Very interesting and absorbing no spoilers here but I learnt so much. A fabulous read.

This book is an exploration of the world's most desolate, abandoned places that have now been reclaimed by nature, from the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea to the "urban prairie" of Detroit to the irradiated grounds of Chernobyl, in an ultimately redemptive story about the power and promise of the natural world.

This wasn't quite what I had expected, but it was a beautiful book. And while it didn't shy away from the damage that has been done to nature, there is also hopefulness to this book. Flyn has done a wonderful job of balancing the viewpoints, and while this is a book about nature, it is much farther reaching, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about the state of nature in these places.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Wonderful and unexpected. Quite a view books published in the last few years touching on this subject but this is the best I have read.

Commissioned writer for The Skinny:

"Flyn interrogates the ecological impact of human activity on each location and to what extent nature can bounce back in a truly engaging manner. By turns cautionary but with glimmers of hope, Islands of Abandonment is not only a compelling travelogue but also a fascinating insight into the relationship between man and nature."

Full review: https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/book-reviews/islands-of-abandonment-by-cal-flyn

This was never going to be a ‘pleasant’ read - how could the stories of human’s collective destruction of habitats of the world around them ever be? But faced with the constant barrage of climate disaster, biodiversity loss and the suffering of so many societies around the world in the news that reaches us daily I was seeking some cause for hope in Cal Flyn’s travels into the desolate places left behind by us, and she doesn’t disappoint. Amidst the rubble of anthropogenic landscapes, filled with toxins, pollutants and aliens, the resilience of ecosystems shines bright, brilliantly described in Flyn’s poetic prose. Never promising us a happy ending to this destructive journey we’ve been on for generations, this is very much a read for the hopeful realists amongst us - to remind us we can still make a difference, and that just perhaps, if enough of us do, nature will work with us to bolster our efforts.

This wasn't quite what I had expected, but it was a beautiful book. And while it didn't shy away from the damage that has been done to nature, there is also a hopefulness to this book. Flyn has done a wonderful job of balancing the viewpoints, and while this is a book about nature, it is much farther reaching, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about the state of nature in these places.

I started reading Islands of Abandonment largely on the strength of its cover: a lopsided house sits in the water, with birds lined along the roof as if they very much belong there. This image perfectly encapsulates the book's focus: when humanity moves out, nature moves back in. I had no expectations, yet I certainly wasn't disappointed. This is a book about nature, with heavy doses of history and philosophy, all thoroughly researched and wrapped up in prose which wouldn't look at all out of place in a flowerbed.

This is an encouraging book, by all accounts. Though Flyn gives a clear picture of the horrific natural damage that humanity's actions has caused, particularly over the last few centuries, she draws attention to the natural world's surprising resilience. Where the landscape has been ruined and who ecosystems seriously disturbed or completely dismantled, Flyn points to the extensive evidence which points to life's surprising habit of acclimatising and prevailing, from Chernobyl to urban Detroit, and all over the world.

It's ostensibly a book about nature, though it opens a doorway into so many areas of history. You can learn about the division of Cyprus as Flyn encounters the animals which have made their home in the buffer area which separates north and south. You can consider the environmental impact of the Mongol hordes and Columbus' arrival on American shores. There's agriculture in the Soviet Union, volcanoes in Monserrat, early industrialisation in the United States, and so on.

In spite of covering such a span of time and so many concepts, the book remains easily readable. The beautiful and floral language doesn't get in the way a detailed discussion of the science. The list of references stands testament to the extent of the research. The author visited many of the sites featured in the book, and her writing helps you to feel as if you were there too. I think this might be the only time I've heard the word "mordorian" used outside of Tolkien, yet it really conveys the devastation and barrenness of the landscape.

I would do well to better educate myself in the natural world and the problems confronting it, in which case Islands of Abandonment is a brilliant place to start. A lot of damage has been done, but there's hope yet. Life will out.

3.5 rounded up

Islands of Abandonment sees Cal Flyn travel to different locations around the world which have been altered by humans and then abandoned for various reasons - including natural disaster (Plymouth, Montserrat) and events which have occurred at the hands of people (Chernobyl and the Cyprus Buffer Zone - to see how these places have adapted in the aftermath of human intervention and as they "re-wild" again. The adaptation Flyn focuses on is primarily that of plants and animals, however some chapters focus more on the people who live in these areas.

The book is made up of a mixture of a travelogue of sorts, telling the story of the places and the people the authors meets, as well as research Flyn does into the history of these locations. The chapters on places in Scotland (Swoma and Five Sisters shale bings) were the ones I found to be the most enjoyable, and I found that this made for a different and enjoyable non-fiction read.

A haunting bread a lyrically written story of places we have abandoned.We follow the author as she takes us on a tour of famous places that are now decrepit falling apart.So Interesting a book that made me think of our world the environment.A book I will be recommending,#netgalley#4thestatebooks

This extraordinary book is compelling, lyrical, sad and yet hopeful. If you love descriptions of how plant and animal life takes over decaying buildings, this is the book for you. Part travel memoir, part nature writing, part ecology lesson, I've never read anything else like it.

Adventurous author Cal Flyn visits places which have been abandoned by their human inhabitants. For example, there's Pripyat, which was evacuated due to the Chernobyl disaster. Detroit, with its urban blight and empty streets. The Caribbean island of Montserrat, where many people had to flee from a dormant volcano turned active. The buffer zone in Cyprus, where the population were forced to leave when the country was divided between the Greek and Turkish administrations. I admired the author's willingness to take risks in the cause of literature. She wades into toxic-waste contaminated water, creeps into derelict buildings not knowing who or what she'll find, sneaks through gaps in barbed wire.

This book also looks forward to a future without humans. Undoubtedly, it would be better from an environmental perspective, as can be seen by the return of endangered species to locations abandoned by humans. The terrible environmental costs of war and heavy industry will be evident for many years, in some cases far in to the future. Nature can never full recover, but it finds amazing ways to adapt.

[NB. This review will be published on my blog on 17th January 2021]

There is something so haunting, so evocative about the places we used to live, shop and work, but that we have since abandoned. As nature slowly reclaims these structures they fascinate us and draw us to them. Flyn explores these places all across the globe, from Chernobyl to the wilds of Tanzania, she shows us how humans have left seemingly irreparable damage on our planet, and the sometimes surprising stories of ecological recovery.

Cal Flyn: the next Robert Macfarlane?

I'm always delighted when a woman gets to write a book like this, but I haven't given five stars for that reason. It's quite similar in format to Gaia Vince's 'Adventures in the Anthropocene', but where Vince's book attempted to raise the reader's optimism about individual efforts to combat climate change, and failed at this in my opinion, Flyn makes few promises of hope and yet, I was left uplifted.

Flyn blends environmental and human history as she takes us to places all around the world, from Chernobyl, to a WW1 battlefield in France, to a desert in the USA. There is a lack of "representation" of the Global South, but I wonder if that's because time hasn't yet worked its strange magic to return life - or new versions of it - to places there that have been ecologically devastated more recently than counterparts in the Global North.

Chernobyl has been written about exhaustively, though Flyn still finds fresh material (she visits all the places that are focused on in the book, with the exception of a few additional examples such as reef recovery in the Bikini Atoll). Where Flyn truly excels is in finding and writing about places that many readers are likely to have never heard of. Slab City in the US desert; the arsenic-ash pool in France; or the West Lothian 'bings', mining waste heaps now flourishing with rare plantlife.

Another quality of the book that stands out is its balance of focus on the human and the non-human. While much nature-writing these days is criticised for an almost egotistical use of animals purely as a means to examine people, Flyn gives attention to both. Slab City is more of a human study, for example, while Harris Island off Scotland is a fascinating vignette of species self-rewilding (I am keenly interested in rewilding and have read many books on the subject, and I hadn't come across the cattle of Harris before).

Flyn describes her explorations in assured and beautiful prose. Very occasionally, there were too many similes and metaphors in short succession, but that's a bit of a nit-pick. What matters is that the author captures the chiaroscuro that her "islands of abandonment" have created - the terrible cost of their destruction, but also the unanticipated joy of life that has managed to find a way. That is where Flyn's message of hope comes in. She is under no pretence that the coming consequences of climate change will bring untold suffering to humans and non-humans alike, but examples like the ones in her book provide tangible hope that some kinds of life will again rise from the ashes - and more quickly and more successfully than we might imagine.

(With thanks to NetGalley and William Collins for this ebook, in exchange for an honest review)