The January Man is the story of a year of walks that was inspired by a song, Dave Goulder’s ‘ The January Man’. Month by month, season by season & region by region, Christopher Somerville walks the British Isles, following routes that continually bring his father to mind. As he travels the country – from the winter floodlands of the River Severn to the lambing pastures of Nidderdale, the towering seabird cliffs on the Shetland Isle of Foula in June & the ancient oaks of Sherwood Forest in autumn – he describes the history, wildlife, landscapes & people he encounters, down back lanes & old paths, in rain & fair weather. This exquisitely written account of the British countryside not only inspires us to don our boots & explore the 140, 000 miles of footpaths across the British Isles, but also illustrates how, on long-distance walks, we can come to an understanding of ourselves & our fellow walkers. Over the hills & along the byways, Christopher Somerville examines what moulded the men of his father’s generation – so reticent about their wartime experiences, so self-effacing, upright & dutiful – as he searches for ‘the man inside the man’ that his own father really was.