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Walking the Border
£7.99
A Journey on Foot Through Scotland's Most Storied Boundary
Ian Crofton walks the line between two ancient nations
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About the Ebook
In 2013 Ian Crofton undertook a journey he had been pondering for years: a walk along the Border between Scotland and England. It would be an exploration both of his own identity - not quite Scottish, not quite English - and of a largely unexplored stretch of country. Apart from the line marked on the map, the route is not obvious. For much of its length the Border either follows the middle of various rivers, or traces the Southern Upland watershed, an area of bleak moorland and dense conifer plantations. During the course of his walk, Ian Crofton investigates the history, literature and legend of the Border. He talks to a range of people he comes across - farmers, landladies, bar staff, anglers, labourers, shepherds, shopkeepers - to find out what they make of the Border, if anything at all. Such conversations lead to a consideration of the very nature of borders. Do they provide a necessary defence of the nationstate? Or are they, in this day and age, an affront to global justice? Walking the Border is in the best traditions of travel writing, combining vivid description with human insight, the whole spiced with a wry sense of the absurdity and necessity of both inward and outward journeys.Why You'll Love This Ebook
- Travel the entire Anglo-Scottish border on foot with a master storyteller
- Discover the history, landscape, and characters along the borderline
- Combine travel writing, history, and personal reflection in one compelling read
- Read another celebrated title from Birlinn Ltd - Independent Scottish Publisher
About the Author
Ian Crofton's books exploring the interplay of landscape, nature and history include Walking the Border: A Journey between Scotland and England, rated by both The Guardian and Trail magazine as 'excellent'. His Fringed with Mud and Pearls: An English Island Odyssey was described by the BBC’s Countryfile as 'really engaging', and by Coast magazine as 'a fascinating study about what it means to exist on the fringes'; it was selected by the Telegraph as one of their top twenty travel books of 2021. Upland: A Journey Through Time and the Hills was published in May 2025.Publication Details
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
Publication Date: 01 October 2014
Print Length: 272 pages (Ebook edition)
ISBN (Ebook): 9780857908018
Format: Ebook
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