Read November 2006
When you read a sentence like “The demand for footwear is a constant aspect of the Jacobite advance and retreat which has attracted little notice from historians” (pg. 33), you know you're reading a quirky and distinctive history. Mitchell thinks Scots should get off their duffs, and his book is an account of the great walking tradition of that country by both natives and visitors (from missionary saints to invaders). In 90 modest pages, he covers the history of walking in Scotland from Roman times to the “tinkers” (itinerants). This delightful little book also includes, as an appendix to each of its thirteen chapters, a proposed walk that evokes the material of that chapter.