'Fascinating and lyrical . . . A beautifully written celebration of a lifelong passion' – Stephen Venables

The relationship of people with hills and mountains has been complex, rich and varied – from awe and wonder to fear and loathing, from spiritual longing to peaceful acceptance.

As he explores our high places, Ian Crofton conjures up those who have been there before: Neolithic axe-makers, mass trespassers, shepherds, quarrymen, botanists, poets and pioneering cragsmen and women among them. At the same time, he is ever attuned to the present moment – a flash of bright moss in a bog, the swoop of an eagle above a skyline, a winter sun sinking into a sea of cloud.

Following an arc from the gentle Downs of southern England to the wild peaks of Scotland’s far north, Upland combines personal experiences with a keen curiosity about the history and nature of mountain landscapes, and the people who once worked and wandered among them. The result is a meditation on the enduring yet ever-changing hills, on the transience of human experience, and on the shifts and twists of time itself.

Locations included:

• Chilterns (following The Ridgeway)
• Malverns
• Snowdon
• Peak District
• Pennines
• Lake District
• Ben Nevis
• The Cuillin, Skye
• Assynt (Suilven)
• Cairngorms

"

'This is a constantly surprising and fascinating look at not just the mountains but about the people who work, play, live and travel there, through history and in the present day.... this books a was delight throughout'

"

'Rich in memories and beautifully written, Ian Crofton’s account of a lifetime walking the hills and mountains of Scotland, England and Wales makes for a delightful book'

"

'A wonderfully evocative ode to the high places of Great Britain'

"

'Ian has a well-honed knack of weaving a literary web linking man and the landscape . . . a tome to engross yourself in whether you are an armchair mountaineer or a tough guy reliving past glories'

"

'This book is written—beautifully—from the stance of a walker and historian'

"

'Crofton draws on a lifetime of walking and climbing across Britain and takes us on a unique journey through time and the hills'

"

'beautifully crafted and captivating... Crofton proves to be an insightful and genial guide'

"

'Skilfully weaves together personal and family stories, prehistory and history, literature, art, geology, nature and more in a glorious mix of everything the hills have to offer. This rich mix of subjects is wonderful... excellent with much to enjoy and to learn' 

"

'Informative, evocative … a welcome addition to the nature-writing bookshelf'

"

'Upland draws on a lifetime's hillwalking and climbing, and yet it's so much more than a simple memoir. Mining rich seams of culture and natural history, it ranges far and wide in its exploration of hills as a human experience - mountains not in the abstract, but as places we've lived and worked in, climbed and dreamed about for millennia'

"

'A delightful and unusual book, both personal and impressively wide-ranging in its scholarship … wonderful … elegiac … a very fine book that will stand the test of time'