Walking History

The flâneur is the quintessentially masculine figure of privilege and leisure who strides the capitals of the world with abandon. But it is the flâneuse who captures the imagination of the cultural critic Lauren Elkin. In her wonderfully gender-bending new book, the flâneuse is a "determined, resourceful individual keenly attuned to the creative potential of the city and the liberating possibilities of a good walk." Virginia Woolf called it "street haunting"; Holly Golightly epitomized it in Breakfast at Tiffany's; and Patti Smith did it in her own inimitable style in 1970s NYC.

Priscilla Joyner was born into the world of slavery in 1858 North Carolina and came of age at the dawn of emancipation. Raised by a white slaveholding woman, Joyner never knew the truth about her parentage. She grew up isolated and unsure of who she was and where she belonged—feelings that no emancipation proclamation could assuage.

In Walking the Way of Harriet Tubman, Therese Taylor-Stinson introduces Harriet, a woman born into slavery whose unwavering faith and practices in spirituality and contemplation carried her through insufferable abuse and hardship to become a leader for her people. Her profound internal liberation came from deep roots in mysticism, Christianity, nature spirituality, and African Indigenous beliefs that empowered her own escape from enslavement—giving her the strength and purpose to lead others on the road to freedom.

I really should have seen it coming—because, let’s be honest, planets are massive—but somehow, I didn’t. One moment, I was happily sliding about like someone playing twister after they had lubed themselves up with copious amounts of industrial-strength baby oil, and the next, I was face-first in a field of cow crap, legs in the air, dignity long gone. Welcome to The Viking Way, a long-distance walk stretching from Barton in Lincolnshire to Oakham in Rutland (which, fun fact, is England’s smallest county). “I’ll walk it,” I thought. “It’ll be fun,” I thought. And sure, ...

What does it mean to be out walking in the world, whether in a landscape or a metropolis, on a pilgrimage or a protest march? In this first general history of walking, Rebecca Solnit draws together many histories to create a range of possibilities for this most basic act. Arguing that walking as history means walking for pleasure and for political, aesthetic, and social meaning, Solnit homes in on the walkers whose everyday and extreme acts have shaped our culture.

"Lens Through Time: The History of Photography" charts photography's evolution from its experimental origins to its digital renaissance. This comprehensive exploration introduces the pioneers who transformed light-sensitive materials into an art form that would forever change how we see our world.

The year is 1933. Even in a world with free energy, robot labor, and megacorporations, nothing could stop the collapse of the American dream. As the world-spanning Great Depression rages on, the remaining New York-based mafias clash with police for control of the broken city. Elias Roche, former police officer turned Mafia enforcer, works to maintain a tenuous peace between the two parties.

Make the Life Storms Strengthen You. Imagine taking something that is meant to destroy you and using that same thing to develop you instead. How is your storm helping you? Storms are unavoidable realities of life. Imagine facing a serious problem in your life and not losing your peace and becoming frustrated and depressed but rather using it to produce something positive in your life. What if you can walk on water in your storm instead of sinking? Rev. Richardson George, being a senior pastor for over 25 years has been instrumental in helping many people overcome storms and problems in ...

The landscape of the British Isles is filled with history, much of which we miss as it flashes past the car window. Do we even realise that we're following the same path as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, or that we're driving past the exact spot where King Harold was killed, shot through the eye with an arrow? As a lover of both history and the British countryside, Charlie Connelly decided to rectify this, and set out on a series of walks that recreate famous historical journeys. En route he retells the story of the original trip while discovering who and what now inhabit these iconic routes.

This is a neglected history. No attempt at a sweeping, definitive, exhaustive history of the world but something quieter, more intimate and particular, told by Annabelle Hirsch through her selection of 101 objects, and now brought thrillingly alive for you by a chorus of 101 remarkable women in this ground-breaking audio release.

This highly entertaining travelogue from a bestselling author follows the adventures of a couple on their 102-mile hike along Britain’s famous Cotswold Way. Wendy and David, escaping the routine of home life, embark on a journey of wonder and discovery. It is one filled with romance, exquisite beauty, hilarious mishaps, and far more adventure than they had bargained for. Join them in the magic and fulfillment of this delightful journey from Chipping Campden in the north to the stunning city of Bath in the south. Wander through wildflower fields of kaleidoscopic colour, enter entranced ...

In the heart of the glorious Yorkshire Dales lies The James Herriot Way, possibly the best short long-distance footpath in the world (yes, that’s a thing). Winding through majestic mountains, rolling moors, and two of England’s most beautiful dales—Wensleydale and Swaledale—this isn’t just a walk, it’s a celebration of breathtaking landscapes, fascinating history, and the legendary James Herriot (All Creatures Great and Small fame, in case you’ve been living under a rock). But Paul isn’t going it alone this time. Oh no. Enter Belle, his loyal(ish) canine companion, who is ...

Two months after an investigation that nearly put Elias Roche behind bars, the former cop turned mob enforcer has endeavored to separate himself from his past by going straight. Now working as a private investigator, his attempts to build himself a quiet life have so far been promising. However, while Manhattan's Lower City is in the midst of a reignited mob war, Elias is faced with finding a man who doesn't want to be found, absolving a machine of a murder charge, and discovering a network of secrets that keeps the world turning, almost literally.

The Queen of the Coast. The World’s Playground. The Casino Capital of the East. They can only describe Atlantic City, New Jersey. Beloved, maligned, always-hustling since its 1854 founding, the seaside resort has seen it all: first class hotels, popular amusements on the world famous Boardwalk and its piers, Prohibition, gangsters, speakeasies, conventioneers, celebrities, urban pride, urban decay, a casino revival, a casino collapse—and it hasn’t given up yet. Boardwalk Playground shares a hundred stories of Atlantic City’s high spots and low points of the past century and a half, ...

Soldier Keith Nightingale has conducted terrain walks in Normandy for over forty years with veterans, active-duty military, and local French civilians. Over the decades Nightingale conducted dozens of formal interviews and informal conversations with many of the principals of the day, including Generals Bradley, Collins, Gavin, Ridgway, and Hill. Added to this rare new primary material from the top brass are numerous conversations with lower-ranking vets who did the heavy lifting.

Join Paul and the gang as they stumble, bumble, and occasionally get lost across the border into deepest, darkest Wales. Armed with questionable decision-making and a serious lack of map-reading skills, they take on Offa's Dyke Path, heading from South to North, and braving whatever the weather (and the sheep) throw their way. Spoiler: It's a lot of rain and a lot of sheep. The adventure kicks off in Chepstow, home to Wales' oldest castle (it’s impressive, but don’t worry, the guys will still find a way to mess it up). As they head north to Monmouth, they cross the only medieval bridge ...

Hundreds of thousands of miles of paths reach into, and connect, communities across England and Wales. By 2026, 10,000 miles of undiscovered footpaths around Britain stand to be lost. Jack Cornish has dedicated the last five years of his life to walking these forgotten routes, and this book, The Lost Paths, is the result. It is Jack Cornish's hope that The Lost Paths will show just how special these forgotten rights of way are, and how embedded each path is in the history of Britain.

Ever since Jurassic Park we thought we knew how dinosaurs lived their lives. In this remarkable new book, Brian J. Ford reveals that dinosaurs were, in fact, profoundly different from what we believe, and their environment was unlike anything we have previously thought. In this meticulous and absorbing account, Ford reviews the latest scientific evidence to show that the popular accounts of dinosaurs’ lives contain ideas that are no more than convenient inventions: how dinosaurs mated, how they hunted and communicated, how they nursed their young, even how they moved....

John Bainbridge has walked in the Devon countryside for over fifty years, and is well known as a writer and broadcaster on the county. In this miscellany of country essays, he explores many of the quiet corners of Devon, from the wild moorlands of Dartmoor and Exmoor to its spectacular coastline and peaceful pastoral landscapes. John Bainbridge is the author of the country books The Compleat Trespasser and Wayfarer’s Dole.

The amazing autobiography of a young Sudanese boy who went from a child soldier and struggling refugee to international peace activist and Hollywood actor. Amid fame, trauma, and the memory of home, can this lost boy find himself?