Middleland

*A WATERSTONES PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR 2026*

The story of a place – and the people politics too often forgets, from the no. 1 bestselling author of Politics on the Edge

‘Rare and life-affirming’ MICHAEL MORPURGO

‘Personal, wise and often funny’ CAROLINE LUCAS

Rory Stewart spent nearly a decade as MP for Britain’s most rural constituency, Penrith and the Border, living among Cumbria’s fells, farms and ancient frontiers.

Drawing on pieces written during his years as an MP, Middleland is both a love letter to rural Britain – exploring tensions between farming and the natural world, between the need to preserve and to grow, between local and national demands – and a quietly radical argument for how politics might better serve the people it represents.

‘A triumph’Literary Review

‘A moving, grounded look at rural Britain’i Paper

‘Intriguing…enjoyable’ Daily Telegraph

‘Full of intelligence and panache’ Scotsman

‘Refreshingly honest’ Country Life

‘Stewart sees Cumbria’s glory’ New Statesman