The Path of Peace: Walking the Western Front Way

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Drawing again on his deep knowledge the author enriches the story of the Western Front with the personal fate of participants in the fights; not very much new there (e. It is an intensely personal work of someone trying to rediscover themselves and advance a worthy cause. I can't say this reflects my own experience - when I was at school, the Second World War was far more prominent and engaging as a historical subject - but Seldon's passion for the horrific events of the period comes through strongly and I learned a huge amount.

I recommend his account to anyone with an interest in this period and especially to anyone considering walking the trail. Inspired by the letters of Douglas Gillespie, killed in September 1915 as was his brother Tom in 1914, who envisaged a pathway for all to walk.

Tracing the historic route of the Western Front, he traversed some of Europe’s most beautiful and evocative scenery, from the Vosges, Argonne and Champagne to the haunting trenches of Arras, the Somme and Ypres. Writing a book on Boris Johnson, as planned, if I was to keep up my rhythm of books on recently departed prime ministers, would hardly help me do this. I might not share Seldon's passion, but I can appreciate it and feel the importance that this walk traces a line that has a deep connection to the personal history of many European families.

In it Anthony Seldon documents the walk he took along the whole of the Western Front of World War One, as part of his self-appointed mission to establish a via sacra, a path of peace, fulfilling the vision of a young soldier, Douglas Gillespie, who was killed in the early weeks of the war. Early in the book Seldon comments 'I had noticed as a teacher how gripped my students were by the First World War - far more so than they were by the Second. It is subtitled "Walking the Western Front Way" and so naturally contains lots of detail about Anthony Seldon's walking experiences.

An very interesting read on several levels: in addition to the many trials and tribulations of establishing this route (1000 km / 600 miles), Anthony Seldon weaves in much of his personal life which into the walk.