The Path of Peace

Walking the Western Front Way Anthony Seldon

A deeply heartfelt memoir about walking the 1,000-kilometre route of World War I’s Western Front, by a leading historian.

Without a home, a wife or a job, and with no sense of where his life was going, Anthony Seldon set out on a gruelling thirty-five-day pilgrimage from the French-Swiss border to the English Channel.

Tracing the historic route of the Western Front, he traversed some of Europe’s most beautiful and evocative scenery, from the Vosges and Champagne to the haunting trenches of the Somme. Along the way, he wrestled heat exhaustion, dog bites and blisters as well as a deeper search for inner peace and purpose.

The Path of Peace is the extraordinary story of that walk and a triumphant rediscovery of what matters most in life.

Praise for The Path of Peace:

‘Profound [and] compelling.’ Spectator

‘Vivid… There is much to admire.’ Observer

‘An inspiration.’ Sebastian Faulks

‘Timely, poignant and passionate. Seldon skilfully weaves the personal with the historical.’ Katya Adler

Sir Anthony Seldon is an educator, historian, writer and commentator. He’s a director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Chair of the National Archives Trust. He is author or editor of over forty books on contemporary history, politics and education, including The Impossible Office? and May at 10.

History 02 November 2023

Paperback • £9.99

198x129 • 368pp

9781838957421

Territories: UK C/Wealth ex Can Rights: AU,