The Green Road Into The Trees
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cornerstone
Published:21st Mar '13
Should be back in stock very soon
WINNER OF THE 2014 THWAITES WAINWRIGHT PRIZE Award-winning British travel writer Hugh Thomson explores the most exotic and foreign country of them all - his own.
Walking right across England, along ancient trackways and green grass roads, Hugh explores the way the country was and the way it is today: the legends, literature and natural world that define us, and the undercurrent of regret running throughout our history;
WINNER OF THE 2014 THWAITES WAINWRIGHT PRIZE
In the past, Hugh Thomson has written acclaimed books about Peru, Mexico and the Indian Himalaya. Now he returns to the most exotic and foreign country of them all – his own.
Walking right across England, along ancient trackways and green grass roads, Hugh explores the way the country was and the way it is today: the legends, literature and natural world that define us, and the undercurrent of regret running throughout our history; what he calls ‘the unicorn disappearing into the trees’.
From coast-to-coast and through the heart of the countryside, he shows how older,forgotten cultures like the Celts, Saxons and Vikings lie much closer to the surface than we may think. It is a journey enriched and partly told by the characters he meets along the way. By taking it, Hugh casts unexpected light – and humour – on the way we live now.
He is an illuminating companion…frequently comic, his voice is original and engaging; proof that it is the walker, not the path, that counts. * Independent *
An immensely enjoyable book: curious, articulate, intellectually playful and savagely candid. * The Spectator *
He records more than impressions: there are fascinating excursions into neglected areas of British history, and conversations with hippies, travellers and farmers, which makes Mr Thomson’s journey a joy to follow. * Country Life *
Often funny and always enlightening -- Candida Lycett Green * Countryfile *
I would love to walk with Thomson -- John Sutherland * Financial Times *
Thomson undertakes a 400-mile journey coast-to-coast along drover paths, bramble-filled ditches and half-forgotten tracks, discovering remnants of forgotten cultures in this celebration of old England and its heritage. * Daily Mail *
Thomson provides a solid sense of place and the reader gets to know the route and its distinctive features. * Times Literary Supplement *
This sparky account of a walk from Dorset to Norfolk had this reader nodding about the "strikingly neurotic behaviour… that often lies beneath the English skin" in the characters of Wind in the Willows, applauding the recognition that "Empire didn't suit us. It brought out the bossy, inflexible, hierarchical side" and whooping at Thomson's use of tie and clipboard to enter the officially imposed sanctum sanctorum of Stonehenge. * Independent *
Gently told, with rich humour and an enjoyable sense of inquiry. * The Times *
ISBN: 9780099558392
Dimensions: 197mm x 130mm x 23mm
Weight: 280g
320 pages