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.