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'The Hard Way is a powerful manifesto for women who long to walk alone – and safely – in the countryside' Dr. Sharon Blackie, author of If Women Rose Rooted Why is it radical for women to walk alone in the countryside, when men have been doing so for centuries? The Hard Way is a powerful and illuminating book about addressing this imbalance, reclaiming fearlessness and diving into the history of the landscape from a woman’s point of view. Setting off to follow the oldest paths in England, the Ridgeway and the Harrow Way, Susannah Walker comes across artillery fire, concern from passing policemen and her own innate fear of lone figures in the distance: a landscape shaped by men, from prehistoric earthworks to today’s army bases. But along the way, Susannah finds Edwardian feminists, rebellious widows, forgotten writers and artists, as well as all their anonymous sisters who stayed at home throughout history. They become her companions over 135 miles of walking, revealing how much, or how little, has changed for women now.
Richard Guise follows a unique 450-mile route across England on foot and on his trusty bike Tetley. His guide is the wiggly line that divides rivers flowing west from those flowing east, a choice that takes him over rolling downlands, along windy ridges, through remote villages, across ancient battlefields, past abandoned airfields and even -- surprisingly -- by boat through a network of canal tunnels that echo to the sound of cannon fire. Accompanying or accommodating him on parts of this serendipitous journey are an array of locals with their own stories to tell: the quail-raising smallholder, the bumptious yachtsman, cake fans, ferret fanciers, re-writers of history and more. The route itself turns out to have historical significance and Guise roots out odd tales of passion and heroism, vision and fear, drunkenness, conceit, deceit and murder.
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