ben fletcher

Wow, what an unbelievably brilliant book. It had been on my reading list for ages and I am so glad I finally got round to reading it. It has completely transformed my world view, at least in my native land of Britain, but I'm sure the information within this book will still be relevant in the wider world. Now when I am out walking the dogs on the same routes I have taken for years it has opened up so many new dimensions to observe. Now a field is no longer just a field, I'm looking at the overall layout, traces of old boundaries, changes in vegetation, hints of historical farming, I'm going home and cross referencing the information I have found on the satellite view on Google maps. It has brought me so much closer to the past, and now what was once a truly beautiful landscape is now also a rich tapestry of hints and clues to my local history. Equally when I'm travelling through cities, towns, villages or by isolated settlements it's given me the ability to go back in time and imagine how things might of looked based on the scattered clues to the past still retained in the architecture we see today. I have only just began delving into the information and new ways of seeing that this book has enabled me to do, but already it has so drastically altered my perception for the better and just can't wait to continue to expand on what I've learnt and explore Britain with this new ability to see into the past.