Walking the Bones of Britain: A 3 Billion Year Journey from the Outer Hebrides to the Thames Estuary

Christopher Somerville's book "A Thousand Miles in Search of the British Landscape" explores the country's rich geological history, from the Isle of Lewis to Essex, and how it has affected human history. It demystifies geology with humor and lightness of touch, showing humanity's reckless exploitation and seeds of hope for averting a climate catastrophe.

Format: Hardback
Length: 432 pages
Publication date: 24 August 2023
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd

Travelling a thousand miles and across three billion years, Christopher Somerville (walking correspondent of The Times and author of Coast, The January Man and Ships of Heaven) sets out to interrogate the land beneath our feet, and how it has affected every aspect of human history from farming to house construction, the Industrial Revolution to the current climate crisis. In his thousand-mile journey, Somerville follows the story of Britain's unique geology, travelling from the three billion-year-old rocks of the Isle of Lewis, formed when the world was still molten, down the map south-eastwards across bogs, over peaks and past quarry pits to the furthest corner of Essex where new land is being formed by nature and man. Demystifying the sometimes daunting technicalities of geology with humour and a characteristic lightness of touch, Somerville's book tells a story of humanity's reckless exploitation of the land.

Somerville's infectious enthusiasm and wry humour infuse his journey from the Isle of Lewis to southern England, revealing our rich geological history with vibrant local and natural history.

Observer: An illuminating take on the British landscape ... a remarkable achievement.

- Tom Chesshyre

A meticulous exploration of the ground beneath our feet. Glorious.

- Katherine Norbury

Somerville is a walker's writer.

- Nicholas Crane

His writing is utterly enticing.

- Country Walking

The physical book is sumptuous, with helpful supplementary materials including colour photographs, a timeline, maps, and walking route resources.

- Times Literary Supplement

Weight: 696g
Dimension: 164 x 242 x 40 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780857527110