On a summer day in 1976, in the quiet village of Halam, Nottinghamshire, a boy named Robert Macfarlane was born. From the beginning, he seemed drawn to the unseen threads that connect language, nature, and place-a fascination that would shape the course of his life. Raised in a family of healers-his father John and brother James both becoming respected respiratory physicians-Robert instead found his calling not in hospitals but in words and wild places.
He was educated at Nottingham High School before heading off to the hallowed halls of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and later Magdalen College, Oxford. By 2000, Macfarlane was back in Cambridge, beginning a PhD at Emmanuel College. Just a year later, he was elected a Fellow-a sign of things to come.
Robert's literary journey began with a question: why are we drawn to mountains, even as they threaten us? His first book, Mountains of the Mind (2003), explored this paradox, blending history, science, and personal reflection. It was met with critical acclaim, winning several major awards and establishing Macfarlane as a unique new voice in nature writing.