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The Old Ways

A Journey on Foot

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The Old Ways

By: Robert Macfarlane
Narrated by: Roy McMillan
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About this listen

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE

The original bestseller from the beloved author of UNDERLAND, LANDMARKS and THE LOST WORDS - Robert Macfarlane travels Britain's ancient paths and discovers the secrets of our beautiful, underappreciated landscape

'The Old Ways confirms Macfarlane's reputation as one of the most eloquent and observant of contemporary writers about nature' Scotland on Sunday

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, Robert Macfarlane discovers a lost world - a landscape of the feet and the mind, of pilgrimage and ritual, of stories and ghosts; above all of the places and journeys which inspire and inhabit our imaginations.

'Sublime . . . It sets the imagination tingling, laying an irresistible trail for readers to follow' Sunday Times

'Read this and it will be impossible to take an unremarkable walk again' Metro

'He has a rare physical intelligence and affords total immersion in place, elements and the passage of time: wonderful' Antony Gormley

 Europe Great Britain Hiking Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Travel Writing & Commentary Walking Haunted Shamanism Sailing

Critic Reviews

A wonderful book: Macfarlane has a rare physical intelligence, and his writing affords total immersion in place, elements and the passage of time (Antony Gormley)
A naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler, a writer whose ideas and reach far transcend the physical region he explores
[Mountains of the Mind is] a distinguished book that jolted my heart. Adventurous, passionate, intensely romantic . . . fizzes with insights (Roger Deakin)
A new naturalist to set beside the classics in our literature
The Old Ways confirms Robert Macfarlane's reputation as one of the most eloquent and observant of contemporary writers about nature
Macfarlane relishes wild, as well as old, places. He writes about both beautifully . . . I love to read Macfarlane
Read this and it will be impossible to take an unremarkable walk again
All stars
Most relevant
This is a thoroughly absorbing account of walking historic paths, a combination of research, contemporary local people and lived experience. I recommend it to walkers, armchair travellers and lovers of local history.

My favourite read/listen this year

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I loved Macfarlane’s extraordinarily poetical prose, however I suspect it’s best encountered on the page rather than in the ear, in part because it’s so intricate and rich that it deserves to be read very slowly, and in part because, in this case, at least, the narrator “performs” the book far too forcefully, injecting himself into prose that already eloquently speaks for itself. Eventually (about three-quarters of the way through) I got used to it, but from now on I’ll be reading Macfarlane’s work in print.

Superb writing, shame about the narrator

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A delight from cover to cover, looking forward to reading all his others. Narration voice is also excellent

Gorgeous

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The language is crisp but full of old poetic words used to describe geology pathways and ancient stories combined with modern insights and analogies

Beautifully written travelogue

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A beautifully written and narrated book. Easy to lose yourself in the immersive writing.

Fantastic!

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