1 item successfully added to your wishlist

0 items successfully added to your cart

There was a problem adding to your cart. Please try again.

Skip to content
product gallery

The North Road

Walking London to Edinburgh Through Nation, Time and Place

by Rob Cowen

'A dazzlingly inventive work of literature' Robert Macfarlane, author of The Old Ways

'A wonderful, epic braiding of history, geography and personal memoir' James Rebanks, author of English Pastoral

'Stunning...weaving an intricate tapestry of tarmac, humanity and time, as rich as the dark earth on which his many threads lie. It will stay with me.' Raynor Winn, author of The Salt Path

____________________________________________________________________

At the heart of this book is a highway. The A1; The Great North Road. A 400-mile multiplicity of ancient trackway, Roman road, pilgrim path, coach route and motorway that has run like a backbone through Britain for the last 2,000 years.

In this genre-defying and profoundly personal book, Cowen follows this ghost road from beginning to end on a journey through history, place, people and time. Weaving his own histories and memories with the layered landscapes he moves through, this is the story of an age, of coming to terms with time past and time passing, and the roads that lead us to where we find ourselves.

Written in kaleidoscopic prose, The North Road is an unforgettable exploration of Britain's great highway.
_________________________________________________________________________

'Stunning and utterly unique. The North Road sits in a genre of one' Benjamin Myers, author of The Gallows Pole

'A dazzling, dogged, layered account of one road's passage through place, time and an ordinary family's history, The North Road truly is a trip' Melissa Harrison, author of All Among The Barley

'Thought-provoking and beautiful' Matt Gaw, author of Under The Stars

'A beautifully woven and mesmerising book' Tom Bullough, author of Sarn Helen

'Sweeping, sensitive and enduring' Tristan Gooley, author of How To Read A Tree

'Rob has given the A1 an entirely new sense of life' Luke Turner, author of Out Of The Woods

READ MORE
Wishlist

AUCK OUT OF STOCK

Wishlist

WGTN IN STOCK

Pages:

416

Published:

May 2025

Format

Hardback

Publisher

Penguin Random House

Imprint

Hutchinson

ISBN:

9781529152432



'A dazzlingly inventive work of literature' Robert Macfarlane, author of The Old Ways



'A wonderful, epic braiding of history, geography and personal memoir' James Rebanks, author of English Pastoral



'Stunning...weaving an intricate tapestry of tarmac, humanity and time, as rich as the dark earth on which his many threads lie. It will stay with me.' Raynor Winn, author of
The Salt Path

____________________________________________________________________

At the heart of this book is a highway. The A1; The Great North Road. A 400-mile multiplicity of ancient trackway, Roman road, pilgrim path, coach route and motorway that has run like a backbone through Britain for the last 2,000 years.

In this genre-defying and profoundly personal book, Cowen follows this ghost road from beginning to end on a journey through history, place, people and time. Weaving his own histories and memories with the layered landscapes he moves through, this is the story of an age, of coming to terms with time past and time passing, and the roads that lead us to where we find ourselves.

Written in kaleidoscopic prose, The North Road is an unforgettable exploration of Britain's great highway.
_________________________________________________________________________



'Stunning and utterly unique. The North Road sits in a genre of one'
Benjamin Myers, author of The Gallows Pole



'A dazzling, dogged, layered account of one road's passage through place, time and an ordinary family's history, The North Road truly is a trip' Melissa Harrison, author of All Among The Barley




'Thought-provoking and beautiful' Matt Gaw, author of Under The Stars




'A beautifully woven and mesmerising book' Tom Bullough, author of Sarn Helen




'Sweeping, sensitive and enduring' Tristan Gooley, author of How To Read A Tree



'Rob has given the A1 an entirely new sense of life' Luke Turner, author of Out Of The Woods

$61.00
Add to wishlist
You might also like

You might also like

View all travel writing