‘Formidable work' Robert MacfarlaneWho owns England?Behind this simple question lies this country's oldest and darkest secret. This is the history of how England's elite came to own our land – from aristocrats and the church to businessmen and corporations – and an inspiring manifesto for how we can take control back. This book has been a long time coming. Since 1086, in fact. For centuries, England's Establishment have been able to cover up how they got their hands on millions of acres of common land, by building walls, burying surveys and more recently, sheltering behind offshore shell companies. But with the dawn of digital mapping and the Freedom of Information Act, they can no longer hide.Trespassing through country estates and empty Mayfair mansions, writer and activist Guy Shrubsole has used these 21st Century tools to uncover a wealth of never-before-seen information about the people who own our land, in order to create the most comprehensive map of land ownership in England that has ever been made public.From the Duke who owns the most expensive location on the Monopoly board to the MP who's the biggest landowner in his county, he unearths truths concealed since the Domesday Book about who is really in charge of this country – at a time when Brexit is meant to be returning sovereignty to the people.It's time to expose the truth about who owns England – and finally take back our green and pleasant land.
