{"product_id":"opening-country","title":"Opening Country","description":"In this journey of discovery, John Micklewright travels the slow way, on foot, on paths, tracks and byways from the Channel to the Alps – from the coast of Normandy to the flanks of Mont Blanc. \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eThe Opening Country\u003c\/i\u003e is a beautifully written account of his progress through the French countryside, an evocative patchwork of landscape, nature, history, literature, film, and – drawing on his father’s diaries that stretch back to the 1930s – of memoir. \u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eAlways curious, absorbing all around him, ready on a whim to divert from his chosen route as he heads unhurriedly southwards. The natural world unfolds as spring turns to summer with surprises of bird song and butterflies, against a constant background of reminders of the economic and social story of rural France and of wars past. The result is an engrossing record of a classic long-distance walk through Britain’s nearest continental neighbour. \u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eThe Opening Country\u003c\/i\u003e is a book to fire the imagination – a call to travel slowly, to open eyes and ears, to discover and explore. \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57315471458686,"sku":"NW9781800461277","price":9.4,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9781800461277.jpg?v=1778657426","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/opening-country","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}