`A formidable, brave and important book' Robert Macfarlane Who owns England? Behind this simple question lies this country's oldest and best-kept secret. This is the history of how England's elite came to own our land, and an inspiring manifesto for how to open up our countryside once more.

The story of how England's elite came to own a sizable proportion of its land, with aristocratic, corporate and church interests taking control of natural space to an extent apparent at the dawn of digital mapping and the onset of the Freedom of Information Act.