It probably isn’t a surprise to many of you that I developed a deep interest in geology as a teen and even studied it at A-level in college. Since those days, I have followed my true passion of zoology/herpetology but I often go back to books that help reignite my passion for the world of rocks when I can. I was very much fascinated by the mechanics of the earth, how rocks formed and what processes helped to shape the landscape. My favourite part of geology was learning more about palaeontology and the fossils found in many sedimentary rocks that I had become so familiar with up until that point. That’s where The Lie of the Land comes in!

As I have moved away from geology, I have forgotten a number of the concepts and terms however this book has been as much as a journey through the British landscape as it has been a covert revision session. Growing up in south Essex, I never really had the chance to see any outstanding areas of natural rock formation due to the fact that everything is just clay and silt. Thankfully this all changed when I visited Dorset in 2011 and west Scotland in 2012, at both locations everything I had learnt up until that point started to make sense.

Getting back to Vince’s book, as an amateur he helps to explain the complex geological systems and processes in a language that anyone can explain. It’s just like peeling off the topsoil and peering deep under the surface of Britain and understanding how the rocks that formed these Isles themselves were tormented and twisted into the recognisable outline we all know today. I’d recommend the book to anyone who want’s to know more about the local geology under their feet (or nationally) as well as anyone who is just interested in geology. Vince has created a work of pure joy, mixing fact with fun from start to finish.