Description
Book Synopsis'Agile, wryly funny and wise' Robert Macfarlane A search for nearby nature and wildness After years of expeditions all over the world, adventurer Alastair Humphreys spends a year exploring the detailed local map around his home. Can this unassuming landscape, marked by the glow of city lights and the hum of busy roads, hold any surprises for the world traveller or satisfy his wanderlust? Could a single map provide a lifetime of exploration? Discovering more about the natural world than in all his years in remote environments, he learns the value of truly getting to know his neighbourhood. An ode to slowing down, Local is a celebration of curiosity and time spent outdoors, as well as a rallying cry to protect the wild places on our doorstep.
Trade Review"Agile, wryly funny and wise." - Robert Macfarlane 'Alastair Humphreys is the consummate roamer: big of heart, curious of mind, light of step' - Amy-Jane Beer, winner of the 2023 Wainwright Prize 'A paean to the benefits of determined noticing. What really shines through its pages is Humphreys' omnivorous curiosity' Financial Times 'Thanks to some genuinely thoughtful writing about planet, place and political purpose, Humphreys finds beauty in the scruffy margins and makes readers look anew at what might easily be familiar or forgotten' The Observer 'A vivid, wry, angry, passionate read from Mr Adventure' Saga Magazine 'I wholeheartedly recommend the book. Anything that establishes the view that exploration is an attitude, not an activity, has to be a good thing. The physical bounds of our children will be smaller than ours. It is up to us to show that by rewilding the mind and finding adventure in the commonplace, a life constrained by necessity is still a life worth living' Chris Gibson Wildlife 'Witty and gritty, affectionate and mildly censorious, eager and sometimes weary. This is still a book of a traveller and adventurer - it's just he can cycle home quite quickly each day. Readable, well-written, stimulating' Mark Avery
