The Wild Rover

Name: The Wild Rover
Brand: Harper UK
Availability: InStock
Author: Mike Parker
ISBN: 9780007432721

Author: Mike Parker

Narrator: Mike Parker

Unabridged: 10 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Collins

Published: 04/14/2011

Categories: Nonfiction, Sports & Recreation, Walking, History, European History, Political Science, Political Ideologies, Nature, Environmental Conservation & Protection, Hiking

Synopsis

Mike Parker, bestselling author of Map Addict, is back with a very full, intelligent and witty exploration into a glorious and passionate British subject – footpaths and the history of land ownership. Mike discovers how these paths have become part of our cultural landscape and why, at the tender age of 44, he suddenly finds himself at a crossroads. Provocative, funny and personal, this book celebrates Britain’s unique and extraordinary network of footpaths. It examines their chequered and surprisingly turbulent history, from the Enclosures Acts of the eighteenth century to the 1932 Mass Trespass on Kinder Scout in Derbyshire; and from the hard-won post-war establishment of great National Trails like the Pennine Way to the dramatic latter-day battles by the likes of Nicholas van Hoogstraten and Madonna to keep ramblers off their land. The story ranges far and wide, to all corners of the country and beyond, and is filled with the many characters that Mike engages with along the way – the poets and artists, farmers and ramblers, landowners and Rights of Way officers and campaigners, historians, archivists and anyone else who crosses his path (or even tries to block it).

About Mike Parker

Mike Parker was born in England and has lived in Wales for half of his life. His first book for HarperNorth, , was a Waterstones Welsh Book of the Month and Travel Book of the Year. His other books include the bestseller , and , which was shortlisted and Highly Commended for the 2020 Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing and won the non-fiction Wales Book of the Year Award.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul on March 30, 2024

I really enjoyed exploring the footpaths of Britain with Mike Parker. This is not a travel guide but really gets to the essence of footpath history, mythology and the joys of walking with humour.......more

Goodreads review by Jane on November 03, 2012

Written on the back of the success of his previous book 'Map Addict' this had some rather forced humour along with some interesting facts. Possible in need of a good editor?......more

Goodreads review by Gavin on July 30, 2020

Off all the things you least want to come face-to-face with on an early morning dog walk, your own hypocrisy comes quite high on the list. This opening line is just one example of how Mike Parker's writing style made the otherwise potentially dull subject matter, involving the history of, and bureacr......more

Goodreads review by Michael on May 04, 2023

I love Mike Parker - probably because we sit on the same end of the political spectrum - but his writing is thoughtful, compelling, and often laugh-out-loud funny. This book is both a contemplation on and a description of, key walks that he has undertaken. His rants are fabulous and his serious asid......more

Goodreads review by James on June 24, 2019

Thoroughly interesting. Some history of UK public rights of way and how it all came about, and some lovely descriptions of walks. Made me want to go out and do a bit more walking across the countryside.......more

Quotes

On Map Addict: 'Mike Parker offers an exhilarating celebration of the humble map.' Mail on Sunday This excellent book on the pleasures of maps and navigation, which is also a withering attack on the infantilisation of the satnav age’. Daily Telegraph ‘A highly engaging and thoughtful, haphazard and personal, meander around maps and map-related arcane.' Daily Mail 'This eclectic, funny and warm book should be on the shelves of everyone who has spent hours staring at a map.' The Great Outdoors 'A witty entreaty to leave the satnav in the car, and to head for the hills with the Ordnance Survey.' BBC Country File magazine ‘Mike Parker makes of a book about footpaths a wonderfully exhilarating literary excursion on and off a hundred beaten tracks’ – Jan Morris CBE , historian, author and travel writer ‘Mike Parker’s book on footpaths is a genuine page-turner’. – Walk Magazine