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Grounded is about healing our ruptured connection with our ancestors and with the land
A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023: NATURE AND TRAVEL
For thousands of years, our ancestors held a close connection with the landscapes they lived in. Seeking that lost connection, James Canton takes us on a journey across ancient England: from stone monuments to sacred groves, places of pilgrimage and sites of religious worship.
Grounded invites us to step away from our modern world, to rekindle the wonder and awe in the places we live in, to discover the history and meaning encoded into the land – if only we take the time to look.
“A book of ghost trails, burial mounds and crop marks, of stone circles and ancient treasures rising from the soil … through his eyes we see the magic of discovery … Liminal and lyrical”
mail On Sunday
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“James Canton is curious. What makes a place sacred? His journey is geographical, spiritual and one of historical and prehistorical discovery. Canton, like Robert Macfarlane and others, engages friends and experts, fostering credibility but also a sense of gentle companionship”
countryfile
“A deep dive into ancient landscapes in search of the sacred. Beautifully written and profound in its insights”
Neil Ansell
“Canton’s research (chiefly in local historical and archaeological records) and his observations paint a convincing picture of the English landscape and the people who lived in it. He assumes a role somewhere between that of an archaeologist, ghost hunter and pilgrim”
financial Times
“A vivid exploration to the hearth-heart of the sacred places of our past – brimming with warmth and gentleness”
Keggie Carew
James Canton
Dr James Canton is Director of Wild Writing at the University of Essex. He is the author of The Oak Papers (2020), Ancient Wonderings: Journeys into Prehistoric Britain (2017) and Out of Essex: Re-Imagining a Literary Landscape (2013), which was inspired by his rural wanderings in East Anglia. He has written for the Guardian, reviews for the TLS and Caught by the River, and is a regular on television and radio.
@jamescanton | @jrcanton1 | jamescanton.co.uk