A series of essays about a selection of British towns and villages abandoned due to economic change or lost to environmental changes (loss to the sea or changing river access). I found the book interesting, but too uneven in tone, insufficiently detailed and fragmented. I learned some fascinating facts, but was dissatisfied with the book as a whole.
Written by a historian, although at times the writing seemed to be more enthusiastic amateur, with the disadvantages that the book can veer off into purple prose (The top of the pines floated in the wind, lofty and conspiratorial, the faint paths pathetic against their might”), peppered with fragmented personal descriptions, reminiscences or suppositions (regularly using modifiers such as “likely”, “say”, “it is even possible”).
On the positive side the writing is often lively, anecdotal and easy to read, although sometimes the background research feels as if it has been transcribed into the book so as not to have been wasted.
To condense his exploration of these abandonments, Green necessarily simplifies his description of historic situations, which sometimes seemingly accept the determinism of hindsight, rather than the complexity and uncertainty of lived history. For example:
Fragmented into rival kingdoms, Wales, by 1066, was a very different cultural and political entity from the freshly conquered and already unified realm of England. England was not unified by 1066, although the Norman invaders wished to make it so, and its borders were still fluid with the Normans for years stamping out rebellions (and their successors waging territorial wars of expansion upon Scotland, Wales and Cornwall), but 1066 is a recognisable date.

The book discusses eight main sites, one from prehistory, four from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and three from the twentieth century, whilst providing numerous further examples:
1. Skara Brae - about 5,000 years ago, possibly lost climate change with flooding of adjacent hunting grounds
2. Trellech - 13th century iron making boom town on Welsh borders, reducing in size due to political change and the Black Death
3. Winchelsea - 13th century East Sussex port and town lost to the sea between about 1270 and 1288, now called Old Winchelsea to distinguish it from the new replacement Winchelsea town founded about three miles away by Edward I in the 1280’s. “It was the first major town in Britain to drown since the beginning of recorded history.” New Winchelsea becomes depopulated gradually from about 1350 as the estuary silts up and the wine trade, upon which its prosperity is founded, diverts to other ports.
4. Wharram Percy - deserted village - but also mentions Tilgarsley, deserted village north west of Eynsham, which was larger. Green traces the desertion as being precipitated by the Black Death in 1348, but the village then shrinking over the following 200 years, as more labour intensive arable farming was replaced by enclosure and sheep farming.
5. Dunwich - much lost to the sea from gradual coastal erosion after two “calamitous” sea storms in 1288 and 1328, including numerous ecclesiastical buildings and churches. Green references visits by Henry James (English Hours) and W G Sebald (The Rings of Saturn), as well as historical researches by Elizabethan writer Stow, who was commissioned by Day, whose early life was spent in Dunwich.
6. St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides - after perhaps 2,000 years of human occupation, the island was abandoned in 1930 due to depopulation (about 200 down to about 40) over the past 100 years or so, with discussion of the European Enlightenment and the idea of an ideal “primitive” man.
7. The villages of Breckland in Norfolk - requisitioned by the army in the 1940’s to allow training for the D-day landings, they were retained by the state and not returned to their owners, so that they could be used by the military to simulate Cold War Britain and Germany, Northern Ireland and Helmand Province.
8. Capel Celyn - a Welsh village drowned to provide a further source of water for the English city of Liverpool in the 1950’s.
A short Coda muses upon the ruination of the future, caused by climate change and economic conditions.

“Shadowlands” is a beautiful book that takes us on a tour of some of the invisible and vanished settlements of the UK. It is a fascinating piece of social history but more than this, the author is himself in the world of the Shadowlands because of his own feelings of loss and grief. Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I wish Matthew Green had been my school history teacher! All of the lost communities he visits are described with passion and sensitivity, giving a real sense of what life was like from the Bronze Age right through to the 21st century. History has never before come to life so strongly between the pages of a book.

Eight lost communities, each completely different from the rest, have a chapter each. Had I been asked to predict whether the ancient or the modern would have more appeal, I'd have said modern, without a doubt. I've always thought that archaeology was deadly boring, and ancient history to me was limited to too many shards of pottery in dull museums, but the evocation of Skara Brae is vivid, and the varying theories of how it came to be abandoned fascinating. Each place has its own reason for its demise, its own tragedy of enforced abandonment whether due to the forces of nature or the insensitivity of man.

The writer puts the losses of the past into present and future context as a footnote to the book, but even before this final brief chapter, reading about the Yorkshire village during the Black Death and its repercussions over centuries due to depopulation and labour shortages spoke to me strongly not only of the current pandemic which is changing so many lives, but the likely devastating one that seems inevitable.

Thank you Matthew Green for giving me such a colourful and moving glimpse into so many ages in the history of Britain.

This is not a book of facts and figures but a journey of discovery. Contained within is not just the story of how these places were lost, but the adventure of how they were re-discovered. As he does so the author does a good job of putting these places in their wider context. Not just in place but in time.

These are stories which engage the senses and spark your imagination. Perhaps this should be no surprise, as the book is authored by a social historian, but at its heart this book contains stories about people. The people that once lived in these lost places, the people who witnessed their demise, and the people that rediscovered them.

It is also the story of the author and their visits to these places. It’s captured well and the descriptions are evocative, allowing us experience them through the text as if we were there.

He does what I think most of us do in these situations, try to imagine what life was like in these places and the reasons for their abandonment and demise. Sometimes he can provide more definitive answers than others, but it’s always more than enough to get the imagination working.

There is also a warning for the future contained within the pages of this book. Whilst not man-made, like our current climate crisis, the Medieval Warm Period was responsible for the demise of two locations in this book. Here the author presents a startling hint of what lies ahead for the towns and cities that are at risk from climate change.

An interesting and incredibly well researched read. This takes you around the country and talks through fascinating hot spots and why they are so. I particularly appreciated the Tryweryn story as I know how significant that still feels to the people of Wales.

Vanished cities, towns and villages have a strange appeal. We can admire how nature takes over them while we mourn what was lost. Moreover, we have a glimpse of what our own habitations might look like in the future. This history book is not a comprehensive guide, but focuses on the following places: Skara Brae, Trellech, Winchelsea, Wharram Percy, Dunwich, St Kilda, Norfolk military training sites and Capel Celyn. The author narrates the history of each place, looks at it in the context of British history and goes to visit - or rather, visit what little might be left - of the sites. Dunwich was the only place I already had significant knowledge of, while I knew of Skara Brae but wasn't sure I'd ever heard of the others.

The topic is fascinating, which made the book a worthwhile read. However, the word 'Journey' in the title suggested that this would be one of those history / travel hybrids which I enjoy. The travel element is quite minor, I suppose because there isn't much to see! It's more of a straightforward history book. The writing style was denser and more academic than I usually read. Although the book is clearly well-researched and has a brilliant attention to detail, I found it difficult at times. I'm not sure I'd recommend it, unless you're used to reading serious history books.

[Review will be on my blog, 11th March]

Matthew Green’s prescient and exquisite gazetteer “Shadowlands” is a poignant and evocative of lost Britain, with a profound sense of regret running through it.
The book is well researched and sensitive to the subject matter, reviving ancient and modern places lost to various forces such as war, disease and the elements. Green brings Britain's forgotten history into the light for a modern age, and in so doing proffers a warning for the future.
A sublime treat.

This is one of those books that made me create itinerary and plan travels as I was reading it.
There were so many places that were forgotten and that exists in the memory. Places rediscovered or just memories.
I was fascinated by these places, their story and how their memories lives or were rediscovered.
It's also a book full of food for thought because there's a lot of historical lessons and the future seems not so bright.
A fascinating and informative read, strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine