Rag and Bone

A Family History of What We've Thrown Away

By: Lisa Woollett

Narrated by: Karen Cass

From relics of Georgian empire-building and slave-trading, through Victorian London's barged-out refuse to 1980s fly-tipping and the pervasiveness of present-day plastics, Rag and Bone traces the story of our rubbish, and through it, our history of consumption.

In a series of beachcombing and mudlarking walks - beginning in the Thames in Central London, then out to the Kentish estuary and eventually the sea around Cornwall - Lisa Woollett also tells the story of her family, a number of whom made their living from London's waste and who made a similar journey downriver from the centre of the city to the sea.

A beautifully written but urgent mixture of social history, family memoir and nature writing, Rag and Bone is about what we can learn from what we've thrown away - and a call to think more about what we leave behind.

©2020 Lisa Woollett (P)2020 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

Was really sorry when this finished

An unexpectedly fascinating story weaving history, family legacy and modern challenges with rich visual images. I left inspired to get rid of plastic in my life as I can’t bear thinking about all the shite we’re leaving behind for generations to come.