The Old Straight Track - Softcover

Watkins, Alfred

3.63

231 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1781856621 ISBN 13: 9781781856628

Publisher: Head of Zeus, 2016

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

A beautiful new edition of a classic work of landscape history, in which Alfred Watkins introduced the idea of ancient "ley lines" criss-crossing the English countryside

First published in 1925, this book outlined its author's concept of "ley lines," supposed pre-Roman pathways consisting of aligned stone circles, standing stones, and prehistoric mounds, used for trading and ceremonial purposes during the Neolithic era. Based on his surveys of the Anglo-Welsh border country, Alfred Watkins believed that in ancient times the country was crisscrossed by a network of straight-line travel routes, with prominent features of the landscape used as navigation points. Watkins's theories have intrigued and inspired generations of readers, from historians to hill walkers, and from amateur archeologists to new-age occultists. This new edition, with a substantial introduction by Robert Macfarlane, and retaining Watkins's original atmospheric black-and-white photographs, introduces a classic antiquarian text to a 21st-century audience. It will appeal to all who treasure the history, the contours, and the mystery of ancient landscapes.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Alfred Watkins (1855-1935) was an archaeologist, antiquarian, and author, who coined the term "ley." Robert Macfarlane is the prize-winning author of The Old Ways and The Wild Places.

Review:

'A stimulating historical mediation on landscape' Daily Mail. 'Robert Macfarlane in his introduction to this new edition [...] is respectful, finding new relevance in Watkin's writing. The result is to fold Watkins, the counter-cultural mystic-modernist, into the cultural landscape, laying the track for others to follow' TLS. Watkins re-enchanted the English landscape, investing it with fresh depth and detail, prompting new ways of looking and new reasons to walk' Robert Macfarlane. A remarkable book ... Alfred Watkins [was a] visionary who saw beyond the bounds of his time' John Michell.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.