OLD WAYS: A Journey on Foot

'What do I know when I'm in this place that I can know nowhere else?' Following the tracks, holloways, drove-roads and sea paths that form part of a vast ancient network of routes criss-crossing the British Isles and beyond, acclaimed nature writer Robert Macfarlane discovers a lost world. With him we find a landscape of the feet and the mind, of pilgrimage and ritual, of stories and ghosts and above all, of the places and journeys which inspire and inhabit our imaginations. We follow the footsteps of both our ancient predecessors and such writers as Edward Thomas. 'Walking as enabling sight and thought rather than encouraging retreat and escape; paths as offering not only the means of traversing space, but also ways of feeling, being and knowing.' 'Macfarlane is reviving an entire body of nature writing here' - David Sexton said in this magnificent meditation on walking and writing. 433 page Penguin paperback, photos.