"This is nature at its most embracing; human nature richly-woven into the cycle of the seasons and the ecologies of father and son, observed with the passion and learning of Britain's favourite walker. A truly wonderful, uplifting book, bursting with life." Nicholas Crane "Christopher Somerville's THE JANUARY MAN has taken me on such a happy journey. I have experienced every type of weather, and walked until my feet are very sore; I have learnt many ancient stories, and stopped to notice the crows, the gulls, the geese, not to mention moss, flowers and clouds. I have thought about churches, pubs, morris men, farming, mud, rain, boots, badgers, apples, climate change - as well as growing older. All this from the comfort of my chair in the kitchen. And of course in thinking about all these things, I have also thought about my own place in the world, and the things I love. I have thought about my dad too and his final years. By the time I came to the end, I was crying.>> It is a wise, entertaining, kind book - one that makes you want to walk and want to read. The language is taut, beautiful, sparky and generous. It's a book not just for walkers or nature lovers, but anyone who loves a good plain story." Rachel Joyce "Christopher Somerville's moving, measured and immaculate The January Man is part walker's diary, part celebration of his reticent yet loving father, and part... well, anything that takes his fancy and ours. But most of all it is a tender rumination on the One Big Thing that troubles all of us when we put on our hiking boots - and that's mortality." Jim Crace, award-winning author of Continent, Quarantine, Being Dead, Harvest "How good is it to read a nature memoir that is not a study in misery? ... For a writer, the highest compliment he or she can pay another writer is envy. And I was green on reading The January Man. It's not just Somerville's knowledge, it's the truth and clarity in his prose - which is like the pure tone that comes from a tuning fork." John Lewis-Stempel "A rich and wonderful book which draws on Christopher Somerville's unusually deep knowledge of Britain's hidden pathways." Hugh Thomson, author of 'The Green Road into the Trees'

Christopher Somerville is the walking correspondent of The Times. He is one of Britain's most respected and prolific travel writers, with thirty-six books, hundreds of newspaper articles and many TV and radio appearances to his name. He lives in Bristol.