OLD WAYS: A Journey On Foot

'An utterly beautiful and brilliantly written travel book' which follows the tracks, holloways, drove-roads and sea paths that form a vast ancient network of routes criss-crossing the British Isles and beyond. Robert Macfarlane discovers a landscape of the feet and of the mind, of pilgrimage and ritual, stories and ghosts and above all, of the places and journeys which inspire and inhabit our imaginations. Infused with literary allusions, humour and a gentle sense of melancholy, the author sets out with stout stick in hand. He goes on a part pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, meets an atheist in the Outer Hebrides, a Palestinian Lawyer and in Ireland he notes ancient funeral tracks. It is the story of walking a thousand miles or more and the subtle ways in which we are shaped by the landscapes through which we move. A poetic investigation, 433pp in paperback.