Books by Christopher Somerville

Walking has never been a more popular pastime and nowhere is more beautiful for walkers to explore than Ireland. In this beautifully written and superbly researched guide, Christopher Somerville draws on his very popular column for the Irish Independent, to present 50 of the very best walks in Ireland - from the Nephin Beg Mountains in Mayo to Dingle Way in Kerry. Practical instructions for the walks are married with evocative and informative passages on the history, flora and fauna, culture and topography of the land. Whether it's exploring the Burren in its floral glory or seeing the Walls of Derry, or even sitting at home in your armchair planning your next walk, this book will prove popular with ramblers, holiday makers and anyone who loves the Irish landscape.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2017In January 2006, a month or two after my father died, I thought I saw him again - a momentary impression of an old man, a little stooped, setting off for a walk in his characteristic fawn corduroys and shabby quilted jacket.

Takes readers on an expedition where the author traded the usual comforts and certainties for a real physical and mental challenge, with no mobile phone or other technological aids.

Bognor Regis...Aberystwyth...Glasgow...Can you place them on a map? Most people can't these days. What kind of countryside do you pass through on your way to the Cairngorms, or the Fens, or Northumberland? What's north of the Pennines? And what's it like when you get there? Most folk wouldn't have a clue. Increasing numbers of us don't have a basic geographical notion of these islands. Blame it on a decline in formal geography teaching, or Sat-Nav and other 'A to Z and nothing in between' devices that make us lazy -- we are becoming the best travelled and least well orientated Britons ever seen. Now Christopher Somerville, bestselling author of Coast and many other books of UK exploration, presents the basics of what belongs where, which counties border one another, and what lies beyond the Watford Gap. He reminds us of the watery bits, the lumpy bits and the flat bits, and gets to grips with the smaller islands surrounding Britain -- and much more. Never Eat Shredded Wheat is a reminder of all the fascinating British geography once learned at school - geography that brings our islands vividly to life - geography which we have forgotten, or never even knew.