Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain

by Roger Deakin, Bonnie Tsui (Introduction), Robert Macfarlane (Afterword)

Overview

A Mother Jones' Best Book of the Year

“A classic ode to wild swimming.” —Outside

A masterpiece of nature writing, Roger Deakin’s Waterlog is a fascinating and inspiring journey into the aquatic world that surrounds us. 

In an attempt to discover his island nation from a new perspective, Roger Deakin embarks from his home in Suffolk to swim Britain—the seas, rivers, lakes, ponds, pools, streams, lochs, moats, and quarries. Through the watery capillary network that braids itself throughout the country, Deakin immerses himself in the natural habitats of fish, amphibians, mammals, and birds. And as he navigates towns, private property, and sometimes dangerous waters and inclement weather, Deakin finds himself in precarious situations: he’s detained by bailiffs in Winchester, intercepted by the coast guard at the mouth of a river, and mistaken for a dead body on a beach. The result of this surprising journey is a deep dive into modern Britain, especially its wild places.

With enchanting descriptions of natural landscapes, and a deep well of humanity, boundless humor, and unbridled joy, Deakin beckons us to wilder waters and inspires us to connect to the larger world in a most unexpected way. Thrilling, vivid, and lyrical, Waterlog is a fully immersive adventure—a remarkable personal quest, a bold assertion of the swimmer’s right to roam, and an unforgettable celebration of the magic of water.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781953534033
Publisher:	Tin House Books
Publication date:	05/17/2022
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	182,523
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Roger Deakin was an English writer and celebrated environmentalist. Waterlog, the only book he published in his lifetime, became a UK bestseller, and founded the wild swimming movement. He also authored two other acclaimed works of nonfiction: Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees and Notes From Walnut Tree Farm. Deakin lived in Suffolk, England, and died there in 2006.

Bonnie Tsui is a journalist and the author of Why We Swim, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, a TIME Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020, an NPR Best Book of 2020, and a Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe bestseller. It is currently being translated into six languages. Her first children's book, Sarah and the Big Wave, about the first woman to surf Mavericks, will be published in May 2021. She lives, swims, and surfs in the Bay Area.

Robert Macfarlane’s prize-winning and best-selling books include Mountains of the Mind, The Old Ways, Landmarks, and, with Jackie Morris, The Lost Words. He lives in Cambridge, England, where he is a Fellow of the University of Cambridge.

Table of Contents

Introduction Bonnie Tsui xi

1 The Moat 3

2 I-SPY at the Seaside 9

3 Lords of the Fly 21

4 A People's River 45

5 Swimming with Eels 62

6 At Swim-Two-Birds 82

7 Tiderips and Moonbeams 87

8 Borrow & Thoreau 100

9 The Lost Pools of the Malverns 114

10 Tribal Swimming 128

11 Salmon-Runs 147

12 The Red River 156

13 Crossing the Fowey 176

14 The Blandford Bomber 198

15 A Small World 210

16 Extinctions 215

17 The Wash 229

18 Natando Virtus 240

19 An Encounter with Naiads 244

20 Swimming with Angels 252

21 A Descent into Hell Gill 265

22 Hot & Cold 271

23 Orwell's Whirlpool 281

24 A Castle in the Air 296

25 The Oxbow 299

26 Swallow Dives 306

27 The Jaywick Papers 309

28 Great Expectations 316

29 Channel Swimming 324

30 Water Levels 336

31 A Mill-Race 343

32 Penguin Pools 348

33 Steaming 359

34 The Walberswick Shiverers 375

35 On Ice 378

36 To the Sea 380

Afterword Robert Macfarlane 391

Acknowledgments 399

Index of Places 402

Editorial Reviews

"Roger Deakin is the perfect companion for an invigorating armchair swim. Engaging, thoughtful, and candid."

The Telegraph

"[A] beautiful meditation on swimming in nature. . . . He writes with sensitivity and a great appreciation for the world around him."

Jezebel

"His prose is sensuous . . . and his sense of humor is as dry as his theme is wet."

The New Yorker - Rebecca Mead

"A classic ode to wild swimming."

Outside Magazine

"Waterlog is an adventure, a meditation, a celebration of wild swimming—a delight. In this book, Roger Deakin has captured the magic of the liquid world."

Susan Casey

"His prose works a spell."

Zoomer

"Sublime.... His swim isn’t just about moving, but about, literally and ecstatically, being moved."

The Cut

"Part amphibious adventure memoir and part right to roam manifesto, beneath Waterlog’s delightful quirk lies a serious treatise on public access and the belief that swimming is intrinsically transformative.... Sublimely subversive reading of the highest order."

Adventure Journal

"Beautiful."

California News Times

"[Waterlog] might be the most romantic swimming memoir ever written. Its spirit, and the way it illuminates the joy and complexity of water, of swimming in the wild, places it next to Thoreau’s Walden. As Thoreau 'went to the woods,' Deakin went into the water."

Harper's Magazine

"Delightful."

Mother Jones

"Extraordinary."

The Guardian - Olivia Laing

"A beautiful ode to the act of swimming outdoors…. Through ecstatic and exacting descriptions of his many swims, Deakin introduces the reader both to the pleasures of outdoor swimming and to the richness of the natural landscape…. Deakin’s insistence on wild swimming for all is really an insistence on a better ecosystem for all."

The Atlantic

"Roger Deakin is a latter-day Thoreau."

Robert Macfarlane

"A beautiful ode to the act of swimming outdoors. . . . Through ecstatic and exacting descriptions of his many swims, Deakin introduces the reader both to the pleasures of outdoor swimming and to the richness of the natural landscape. . . . Deakin’s insistence on wild swimming for all is really an insistence on a better ecosystem for all."

Anelise Chen

"A classic ode to wild swimming."

Outside

"Like swimming through Alice’s Wonderland."

Lynne Cox

"The chapters unfurl like a warm tide of pleasant anecdotage." - Daily Telegraph

"A wonderful and romantic tale told by a true English eccentric...think Ratty, think Mole—enchanting." - Michele Roberts, Financial Times

From the Publisher