A travelogue that had very little of a common thread other than various stories linked (to a greater or lesser extent) to places along Watling Street, but it was really enjoyable, especially the Milton Keynes bits!

If you've read this far, you'll know what Watling Street is, so I won't rehash that. John Higgs travelled this road in summer 2016, when the idea of British identity was much on our minds. This ancient track becomes the setting for a mix of travelogue, social history, personal memoir and political musing. It's tempting to view him as a sort of countercultural Bill Bryson, and there is indeed that brand of obscure and entertaining facts and stories throughout this book, but also a kind of philosophical objective. He uses the conceit of a noosphere, a concatenation of myth, history, legend and fact that creates our own image of who we are, a sort of British Dreamtime.Through this he finds the ancient in the modern, as in the striking and surprising prologue, which links Stonehenge and Milton Keynes, to reveal our country as layer upon layer of stories, traditions, influences and ghosts that are still present in the here and now. It's a vision of Britain that celebrates Alan Moore as much as Churchill, that gives equal weight to Thomas Becket and the Winchester Geese, and one that struck much more of a chord with me than a thousand frothing Daily Express front pages.

Possibly my favourite non fiction book I’ve read, somehow takes apart what I know, and rebuilds it into something bigger.

Brilliant piece of cultural history. Places, people, knowledge. Loved it

More a book containing history than a history book. A personal journey examining the idea of Britishness and cultural identity via the ancient and mythical way known as Watling Street. I found it an enjoyable and interesting read, thought provoking in places and informative in others, but please don’t expect an academic historical look at the road and it’s environs.

I love books like this, full of fascinating information and stories well told.

Watling Street is one of the four ancient roads that cross England and date back to pre-Roman times. Extending from Dover in the South-East to Anglesey in North Wales, Watling Street is a road with history at every turn and one which also provides a microcosm of life in England from the past to the present. John Higgs travels this road and visits various places of interest, telling the stories of each and how they have influenced life as we know it.

This is one of my favourite genres of book, the sort that almost defies description. On Amazon this book is classed as 'history' but it's much more, part travelogue, part exploration of culture, part social biography, part conversations with interesting people and part memoir. The tales meander a little too much at times but always there's something of interest upcoming. A bit like the road itself this book covers a lot of ground and there's lots to experience.