The Last Wilderness cover art

The Last Wilderness

A Journey into Silence

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The Last Wilderness

By: Neil Ansell
Narrated by: Peter Noble
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About this listen

Neil Ansell's The Last Wilderness is a mesmerising audiobook on nature and solitude by a writer who has spent his lifetime taking solitary ventures into the wild. For fans of the author's previous book, Deep Country, Robert Macfarlane's The Old Ways or William Atkins' The Moor.

The experience of being in nature alone is here set within the context of a series of walks that Neil Ansell takes into the most remote parts of Britain, the rough bounds in the Scottish Highlands. He illustrates the impact of being alone as part of nature rather than outside it.

As a counterpoint, Neil Ansell also writes of the changes in the landscape and how his hearing loss affects his relationship with nature as the calls of the birds he knows so well become silent to him.

©2018 Neil Ansell (P)2018 Headline Publishing Group Ltd. Biological Sciences Science Travel Writing & Commentary Highlander

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Critic reviews

"A gem of a book, an extraordinary tale. Ansell's rich prose will transport you to a real life Narnian world that C.S. Lewis would have envied. Find your deepest, most comfortable armchair and get away from it all." ( Countryfile)
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Excellent book but it’s annoyingly when another author makes us associate our nature world with guilt and shame. I was hoping for a positive feel good experience but everything is tinged with pollution and a loss. We are aware that we are doomed, perhaps a beacon of light is what is needed.

Excellent topic

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I’ve walked many times in The Rough Bounds and I listened to this sat in traffic in the south east of England. Needless to say I’ve just booked train tickets, got my tent ready and found my midge spray. Absolutely wonderful and made me heart sick for those lochs and hills.

Packing my tent

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This audio book had long been in my library for some reason I had not listened.
What a joy awaited me in the listening. A beautifully touching journey. I loved every minute of it.
As other reviewers have commented that it makes you want to grab a bag and travel a similar path.
I too enjoy solitary walking and seeing wildlife away from the crowds.
I do hope that the wilderness remains unfrequented with too many people.

Beautiful journeys into the Wilderness

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A vivid, beautiful journey. Themes of love and loss. The changes of seasons and sights described throughout really generate paintings in your mind.

Wonderful adventure.

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If your looking to be whisked away gently into the wilderness and natural world this a great way to do it for a couple of hours. Not a map or a guide but simply one mans description of the wildlife , natural world and solitude he loves to encounter. One criticism is the due to the missmatched jumpy structure of the writing I often struggled to keep track of any story and had keep going back to find my own bearings. I suppose this is much my own fault as I was listening to the audio whilst driving, but the authors natural way of life is rambling on without any prior plan which certainly seeps into the writing of this book. Overall a beautiful listen , the narrator is brilliant and with lots of self reflection and musings in each chapter this inevitably leads to evaluations of your own way of life which can only be for the better.

A lovely listen

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it captures the essence of wandering the hills alone,a rare treat which reminds me of my own small adventures

I've been there too

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Loved everything about this book. Will listen to it again right now! Don't hesitate if you like Scotland or nature.

Beautiful read

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A mix of experience through nature, memories and what it is like to lose your hearing. So interesting.

The narration is brilliant. Have listened to this book many times.

Very good

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I am an audible addict wirh 100s and 100s of titles under my auditory belt and this story is yp there with the best of them. Exquisite narratives with probably the best narrator I have heard.
Well worth a listen.

Wonderful story, amazing Narration

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Fantastic story of paths I have walked with my family up the west coast of Scotland. Even now years later this story brings back every turn we took along the way noticing all the amazing wildlife .

Paths I’ve walked

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