Whispers of Better Things is a quest to understand the origins of some of the campaigns in Victorian England for greater social and environmental justice.

These movements created a legacy that still enriches our lives today. Without them we would not have the National Trust, Green Belts, 'rights of air and exercise', play grounds, public sanitation, or social housing. Without them, beauty would take even less precedence in public decision making than it does today.

This book focuses on the Hill family, their forebears and associates who, by standing up and standing out in Victorian society, led the way to these better things.

Some of these whispers require our attention today lest we lose them or fail to enhance and adapt them to our current and future needs.

Duncan Mackay is a former winner of the Henry Ford European Conservation Award for Heritage and former editor of the Twyford and Ruscombe Local History Society magazine. He has worked as Director of the South East region of the Countryside Agency; Environmental Manager for Berkshire County Council; and Deputy Secretary of the Commons, Open Spaces and Footpaths Preservation Society. He has written six books and contributed to others including England in Particular and Bastions of Berkshire.