John Higgs is the perfect guide for this wonderful quirky tour of Watling Street, the prehistoric track that ran from Dover to Anglesey. In the intervening years, parts of Watling Street have been paved by the Romans, become market high streets, and been made into major modern highways, but the course of it persists. Along the way, Higgs offers history, trivia, social commentary, and meet-ups with local characters, including the author Alan Moore (in Northampton). Higgs has occasion to discuss James Bond, Thomas Becket, a medieval burial ground (visited on Halloween), Tyburn gallows (near today's Marble Arch in London), a sad shopping mall, Bletchley Park codebreakers, the game of rugby, Merlin, and Brexit, and that's just for a start. Chatty, witty, and occasionally philosophical. There are a few books of nonfiction that seem to have been written especially for me, usually full of charmingly written anecdotes with a unifying theme plus some thoughtful context (examples I've read recently: The Address Book, The Library Book), and this is one. Perfect Christmas gift 2020 from Michael and Rebecca. Recommended for Anglophiles, travelers, map people, history buffs.

Watling Street is a charming and readable history book that combines British history, popular culture, and observations on modern society, all centred around the ancient road from Dover to Anglesey. Chapters follow the road up along the A2, the A5, and the M6 toll to pinpoint specific locations and match them with historical fact and anecdote. Higgs links in his own travels on and around Watling Street, from a family trip to Bletchley Park to stories about his childhood. What results is an eclectic book that blends older and modern history, references pop culture from classic literature to recent music, and remarks upon the state of the nation in the post-EU referendum time.

The introduction about Milton Keynes will immediately draw in anyone who has ever visited or lived in that infamously grid-shaped concrete hub. Indeed, the book’s particular audience is likely to be anyone who lives or regularly visits places along the road, as there is a certain excitement on finding familiar locations and their history told in Higgs’ warm and interesting style. Some of the historical stories and figures will probably be well-known to many readers, but the way that Higgs connects these with physical location and with modern references and ideals adds a different twist. He explores and questions ideas and definitions of Britain, turning what could sound from its summary like an uncomfortably nationalistic book into one that priorities the variation in the country and wonders how Brexit will affect visions of Britain like Higgs’ own.

Watling Street is part popular history and part light-hearted state of the nation book, with personal anecdotes from Alan Moore sitting alongside information on how Romans built their roads.

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3609612.html

I had a phase when I was about nine or ten of looking at the maps of England and tracing the paths of the Roman roads - perhaps a little envious that there aren't any in Ireland. (Now I live within a brisk walk of several Gallo-Roman tumuli.)

Higgs does what I've always wanted to do, and frames a series of historical and cultural snapshots along the length of Watling Street, the Roman road that goes from Dover through Canterbury, London, and St Albans, passes near Bletchley Park and Northampton, and then through Wroxeter to Holyhead. It's all interesting and some of it is glorious, for instance his tour of Northampton as portrayed in Alan Moore's Jerusalem, guided by Alan Moore himself and one of Moore's greatest fans. He comes at it from an unapologetically left, counter-cultural perspective, a welcome refresher that interest in your own country's culture and history belongs to all parts of the political spectrum. Lots of nuggets here, especially commending the bits on London and Bletchley Park, but it's all good.

Fascinating travel writing

Part travel journal, part rumination of the magical eccentricity of England, this is a challenging exploration of our complex national character and sense of place. Questioning debates mixed with whimsy, this is part of the search for a national identify we all feel comfortable with.

Wonderful read, constantly informative and entertaining. The descriptions of views and places were really brilliant, interspersed with history and story, it immediately made me want to take this journey upon myself as well. But sadly this year I will just have to reread this book to get that experience.

I guess one good thing had to come out of Brexit. I sometimes find pyschogeography a bit much, but John Higgs is a relaxed and generous guide who gives space to his interviewees and the stories he finds and unravels his thesis – that the British noosphere is rich enough and both strong and nebulous enough for all of us – lightly and elegantly.

It is the only good thing to come out of Brexit, though.

thanks to netgalley and the publishers for a free copy in return for an open and honest review.

This book takes us on a journey on the prehistoric route of Watling Street travelling from Dover to Holyhead in Wales on whats loosely the modern A2 and A5 roads but feel its more a journey of history and cultures which make a cross section of this nation through the places on this famous road from the first Briton to the spiritual home of Canterbury as it heads towards the capital city of London and through the heartlands of Mercian Midlands where we encounter the myths of highwaymen, outlaws,rugby ,medieval football and modern day cartoons as the road heads towards the Welsh marches with Viriconium (modern day Wroxeter) on the banks of the River Severn towards Wales and Telford's remodelling of the old road to improve travel to and from the port of Holyhead.
Overall enjoyed the book as it was informative and you felt as though you were travelling along this road too taking in the culture, history and the noosphere of everything being the collective even if this is different for everyone though.

I don’t think I could have picked a better book as the first one to read this year. Not only did I find it comforting on an existential level, it reminded me of bits of history I had forgotten, introduced me to people I only had a passing acquaintance with and expanded my understanding of others.

For a full review, which includes quotes from the book, please go to my blog here: http://wherekizzialives.com/2020/01/27/book-review-watling-street-by-john-higgs/