'Radical, humane, witty' Alain de Botton
'Magisterial' Will Self, Guardian

Explore historical, political and philosophical paths traced by walkers in this profound and diverting modern classic.


What does it mean to be out walking in the world, whether in a landscape or a metropolis, on a pilgrimage or a protest march? In this first general history of walking, Rebecca Solnit draws together numerous stories to create a new way of looking at one of humanity's most fundamental and expressive acts.

Arguing that walking as history means walking for pleasure and for political, aesthetic, and social meaning, Solnit homes in on the walkers whose everyday and extreme acts have shaped our culture, from the philosophers of ancient Greece to the poets of the Romantic Age, from the perambulations of the Surrealists to the ascents of mountaineers.

With profiles of some of the most significant walkers in history and fiction - from Wordsworth to Gary Snyder, from Rousseau to Argentina's Mother of the Plaza de Mayo, from Jane Austen's Elizabeth Bennet to Andre Breton's Nadja - Wanderlust takes us on an unforgettable journey and shows how walking can affect the body, the imagination, and the world around us.

'One of those rare, quirky, rather lovable books that makes you look anew at something so familiar ... Solnit winningly traces the shifting cultural significance of putting one foot in front of another' Daily Telegraph

Anton de Kom’s We Slaves of Suriname is a literary masterpiece as well as a fierce indictment of racism and colonialism. In this classic book, published here in English for the first time, the Surinamese writer and resistance leader recounts the history of his homeland, from the first settlements by Europeans in search of gold through the era of the slave trade and the period of Dutch colonial rule, when the old slave mentality persisted, long after slavery had been formally abolished.

159 years after the abolition of slavery in Suriname and 88 years after its initial publication, We Slaves of Suriname has lost none of its brilliance and power.

Follow in the footsteps of some of the world’s most famous authors on the journeys which inspired their greatest works in this beautiful illustrated atlas.

Some truly remarkable works of literature have been inspired by writers spending time away from their typical surroundings. From epic road trips and arduous treks into remote territories to cultural tours and sojourns in the finest hotels, this book explores 35 influential journeys taken by literary greats and reveals the repercussions of those travels on the authors’ personal lives and the broader literary landscape.

Award-winning author Travis Elborough brings each of these trips to life with fascinating insights into the stories behind the creation of some of the world’s most famous literary creations, including Dracula, Moby Dick, Murder on the Orient Express, Madame Bovary, The Talented Mr Ripley, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

From Herman Melville’s first whaling voyage in 1841, from New York to Liverpool, to Jack Kerouac’s on-the-road Odyssey, which is now an iconic drive, discover how these journeys imprinted themselves on some of the greatest literary minds of all time.

Complete with navigational notes, color photographs, and commissioned maps, the fresh insights within tell readers something new about the places, work, and personalities of some of the world’s greatest minds.

Wuthering Heights First Edition Facsimile (1847) in a two-volume edition, with Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell (1846)

Step into the wild, windswept world of the Yorkshire moors with this exquisite first edition facsimile of Wuthering Heights, faithfully reproduced from the British Library’s original 1847 copy of Emily Brontë’s enduring masterpiece.

Published under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, Wuthering Heights is one of the most powerful and unconventional novels in English literature — a haunting tale of passion, obsession and revenge that has captivated readers for nearly two centuries. This sumptuous facsimile captures the novel as it was first presented to Victorian readers, preserving the typography, layout and character of the original. Housed in a luxurious foiled cloth-bound clamshell presentation box, this collector’s set brings together:

• A two-volume first edition facsimile of Wuthering Heights (1847), with covers typical of the era

• A first edition facsimile of Emily Brontë’s own copy of Poems (1846), the ground-breaking poetry collection she published alongside her sisters Charlotte and Anne prior to the success of Wuthering Heights, reproduced with handwritten notes and signed and dated by her on the title page. Emily’s copy was rebound by a later owner and bears the date of 1864 on the spine. As this edition is intended to be a faithful facsimile, we have reproduced the book exactly as it survives today, including this historical peculiarity.

• Facsimile looseleaf pages from Emily’s two manuscript poetry notebooks (also held in the Library collections) that show earlier versions of a couple of poems that appear in Poems.

• The set is completed with an introductory booklet by two lead curators at the British Library.

Brontë fans will now be able to own facsimile first editions of the two creative works Emily published during her short life – in effect her complete works – presented together in a gorgeous box with gold foil details. Each element has been created directly from the originals held in the British Library’s collections, ensuring exceptional fidelity to the source material.

An essential acquisition for Brontë enthusiasts, collectors of classic literature, scholars, and lovers of fine bookmaking, this facsimile set is as striking on the shelf as it is moving to read.