Cal Flyn's 'The Savage Landscape' Review: Wilderness, Ethics, and the Anthropocene

In a review published in ArtReview's Summer 2026 issue, Oliver Basciano examines Cal Flyn's new book 'The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness' (William Collins, £20 hardcover). The book questions whether any true wilderness remains on Earth, arguing that the concept is defined by human absence yet contingent on human action. Flyn, a Scottish writer, travels from the Brazilian Amazon to the Sinai Desert, Antarctica, and Iceland's volcanoes, offering sublime descriptions of remote places while confronting ethical dilemmas. She highlights the plight of the Batwa people in Uganda, displaced by government and conservation charities, some of whose staff have committed atrocities in the name of protecting wildlife, including the great apes made famous by Dian Fossey and the film 'Gorillas in the Mist' (1988). Flyn also accompanies big-game hunters in Mozambique, noting that their payments help fund conservation, despite the moral queasiness. She reflects on her own scientific bias and observes that indigenous mythologies, like the yulsa spirits of the Nepalese Bon people, have protected territories more effectively than NGOs or military might. The review concludes that escaping the Anthropocene's curse seems doomed, but fear—a precolonial respect for the unknown—may offer an antidote. Flyn sees human exploration as both a triumph and the world's undoing.