A Guardian Travel Book of the Year

Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards

‘The premise of this book is simple, or that is what it seemed when I started.’

Peter Fiennes follows in the footsteps of twelve inspirational writers, bringing modern Britain into focus by peering through the lens of the past.

The journey starts in Dorset, shaped by the childhood visions of Enid Blyton, and ends with Charles Dickens on the train that took him to his final resting place in Westminster Abbey.

From the wilds of Skye and Snowdon, to a big night out in Birmingham with J. B. Priestley and Beryl Bainbridge, Footnotes is a series of evocative biographies, a lyrical foray into the past, and a quest to understand Britain through the books, journals and diaries of some of our greatest writers.

And as Fiennes travels the country, and roams across the centuries, he wonders:

‘Who are we? What do we want? They seemed like good questions to ask, in the company of some of our greatest writers, given these restless times.’

Peter Fiennes is the author of Oak and Ash and Thorn, which was a Guardian Best Nature Book of the Year, and To War with God, a moving account of his grandfather’s service as a chaplain in the First World War. As the publisher for Time Out, he nurtured a lifelong obsession with old guidebooks, creating the award-winning city guides, walking books and titles about Britain’s countryside and seaside. He lives in south-west London.