The Path of Peace: Walking the Western Front Way

by Anthony Seldon

Without a permanent home, a wife or a job, and with no clear sense of where his life was going, Anthony Seldon set out on a 35-day pilgrimage from the French-Swiss border to the English Channel.

The route of his 1,000 kilometre journey was inspired by a young British soldier of the First World War, Alexander Douglas Gillespie, who dreamed of creating a 'Via Sacra' that the men, women and children of Europe could walk to honour the fallen. Tragically, Gillespie was killed in action, his vision forgotten for a hundred years, until a chance discovery in the archive of one of England's oldest schools galvanised Anthony into seeing the Via Sacra permanently established.

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. Along the way, he wrestled heat exhaustion, dog bites and blisters as well as a deeper search for inner peace and renewed purpose. Touching on grief, loss and the legacy of war, The Path of Peace is the extraordinary story of Anthony's epic walk, an unforgettable act of remembrance and a triumphant rediscovery of what matters most in life.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History, Walking, World War I, War, Audiobook

368 pages, Paperback

Published February 2, 2024

About the author

Sir Anthony Francis Seldon, FRSA, FRHistS, FKC, is a British educator and contemporary historian. He was the 13th Master (headmaster) of Wellington College, one of Britain's co-educational independent boarding schools. In 2009, he set up The Wellington Academy, the first state school to carry the name of its founding independent school. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham from 2015 to 2020. Seldon was knighted in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to education and modern political history.

Reviews

[Brian Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best things about being given books as presents is that you get to read things that you would never buy for yourself and make interesting discoveries. That was the case for me with The Path of Peace - on one level it's a travel book, featuring the author walking (approximately) along what was the First World War's Western Front, from France's border with Switzerland up to Belgium - but there's more to it. We not only get an awful lot of detail about aspects of the First World War that are likely to be unfamiliar to most readers (certainly me), we also get to share in a romantic dream.

The whole thing is hung on a letter written by a young British Second Lieutenant from the trenches in Northern France in 1915, shortly before he was killed. Douglas Gillespie, somewhat oddly writing to his old school headmaster, expresses a wish that 'when peace comes, our government might combine with the French government to make one long Avenue between the lines from the Vosges to the sea...' - this would be a 'Via Sacra' which would provide a pilgrimage route to enable the inhabitants of Western Europe to 'think and learn what war means.' Inspired by this, our author Anthony Seldon, who had recently lost his wife and reached a turning point in his career, set up a charity (which would close in 2022 to be replaced by a commercial venture) to work towards an end-to-end 1,000 kilometre 'hike and bike' trail called the Western Front Way. Seldon's walk, at the centre of this book, was in part a means of raising publicity for the venture.

As a travel writer, Seldon is not particularly effective - he is much more a historian, which means that there is no doubt that the reader gets a strong feel for what both soldiers and civilians along the Front experienced between 1914 and 1918. 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.' 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. The repeated sets of details of numbers killed, atrocities and more certainly hammer the point home, though over time it can feel a little repetitive.

I did struggle a little to identify with Seldon's upper middle class, academic, establishment worldview. He notes that he was head of two public schools and then ran a 'small university' which his father had helped set up in 1976. Apart from his teaching and administrative work, his establishment credentials included being director for the National Shakespeare company, name dropping Boris Johnson as a contact and easy access to national newspapers and TV channels. (And, inevitably, he owns a house in France.) His walk had echoes of the exploits of nineteenth century explorers - not only did he undertake it when most of us weren't travelling because of the Covid pandemic, it seemed to involve very vague planning, carrying no paper maps, and the mad inspiration of not taking any spare clothing to reduce the weight of stuff to carry.

As for the realism of the idea of establishing the Western Front Way as a long distance footpath/cycle path, Seldon's struggles to avoid busy roads and to stay anywhere near the multiple lines of the front for stretches at a time, combined with the sheer scale of the project, made it feel unlikely ever to be fully achieved. The good news is it now seems well-established on the Belgian section, though. It was also notable that several times Seldon tells us how few people visited the various monuments and sites he came across - it does suggest that it is perhaps too late for this to be a project that will ever capture the imagination of massed pilgrims.

However, whether or not the romantic dream is achievable, the book is both informative and occasionally able to hit the emotional spot. 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. It gives the opportunity to think a little about the rights and wrongs of war and peace. And because of that, at a time when there is again war in Europe, I'm glad I read it.

[Nicola Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed it - what a great idea for a walk and for a memoir. I learned a whole lot about WW1 and, war in general, and enjoyed Seldon's personal bits about the challenge in accomplishing such a big walk at 68 years, and the bits and pieces he lets fly about his family life and blossoming new relationship. I'd love to think that someday, in the not-too-distant future, I'll walk the Western Front Way too.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

found this book interesting mixture of travelogue and history as the author walks the western front around the time just after covid pandemic

[Nils · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable and entertaining read. Blends the history and travelogue well and keeps the pace going. Doesn’t avoid the unutterable tragedy of the events of a century ago but also doesn’t over-do it. As a walker and an historian I found lots to appreciate here.
The only slightly jarring note for me is the way the author turns his grief around the recent death of his wife into something a bit close to self-pity and his attempts to denigrate himself feel a little like false modesty. He is massively accomplished - his bio lists nearly 50 published works and he’s held positions of great responsibility and prestige. He’s also got an unbelievable Rolodex (ie of high-level contacts).
But I’d recommend the book and I can imagine myself coming back to it again. And I’d love to walk the Western Front Way!

[Libby Low · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
A really emotional and moving book that encompasses history, travel, nature, biography and more!

[Martin Brabazon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following the discovery of a letter from a fallen soldier in the First World War who dreamed of creating a walk along the Western Front - a Via Sacra - for future generations, historian and writer Anthony Seldon undertakes a 38-day walk along the route in the summer and early autumn of 2021 as part of an effort to make 'the path of Peace' a reality.

Along the journey, Seldon reflects on the battles of one hundred years earlier, the roles people played, and the experiences of different social groups.

Written at a time when the world is grappling with the subtle shifts of the Covid pandemic and things are slowly, sporadically beginning to happen again both personally and politically, this is much more than a war walk. In fact, I sometimes found Seldon's musings on the modern world and their echoes of the past more interesting than the straight historical details.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed this account of the author’s walk along the Western Front Way - the ‘Via Sacra’ first imagined by a young WWI soldier, Douglas Gillespie.
History of the First World War is intertwined throughout the account of the walk, making this an easy and engaging read.

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I simply had the wrong expectations...
I read travel / hiking / nature writing literature rather regularly, and somehow this book is not the "regular" hiking report.
It is a profound lesson in WWI sites, persons, events, tragedies, consequences, no of deaths, names of battles and places... and for me, that was just overwhelmingly too much (especially as in my generation of Germans, we were much more told about WWII and my interest in WWI has never been that strong).
What is missing for my taste is the sharing of the experience of hiking the Western Front Way, the sights along the way, the "usual" hiking lessons people with more or less experience gather along a one-month-hike.
Also, I would have really liked to get at least a basic idea of what sights this way offers to hikers these days. Instead, I learned everything about what it looked like during WWI and who and how many people died there, one example of many: "Once atop, and looking for kilometers in every direction, I understand why this supreme vantage point was one of the most fought-over pieces of land on the entire Western Front." (p. 119). While I was expecting some sort of description of what he saw "once atop", the only reference is made to what this viewpoint meant during WWI. Also, I learned more about the brand of the taxis that picked him up in the evening and brought him back in the morning, about the feeling of the bed covers in the numerous hotels, about the food he ate and the remarkable amount of alcohol he drank... than about the landscapes and the hiking experience to be expected.
Anthony Seldon apparently has NO idea about long-distance hikes and seriously put me off with his way of doing it, and with his constant complaining about it. Alright, I give it to him that he is 68 years old and thus not the youngest hiker on the planet, but comparing it to the hikes Bernard Ollivier did at the same age, who was sleeping rough and with the locals, not planning ahead at all, walking and carrying his stuff for thousands of kilometers into unknown areas, well, Anthony Seldons simply comes short... I also absolutely do not understand why, after spending fortunes on taxis, on hotels with often some luxury, traveling through half of France for his daughter’s wedding, he pretended to run out of time for the end of his hike, because he had an interview planned in the UK. Couldn’t he have flown out to that interview and come back to finish his path in peace and glory? Instead of whining about time pressure and annoying the reader...
Apart from all that, I do not understand which maps he used to constantly lose his path and not know beforehand when he would walk on a road or not... and if really he wanted people to pick up this path, he should have maybe mentioned a gps track that he created on this walk... but wait, in any case, if you’re not able (or willing) to spend huge amounts on taxis, you will not know where to sleep at the end of a day in any case...
And while I acknowledge Anthony Seldon’s devotion to creating this path, I must say that after suffering through the 300+ pages of his pain and misery, I do not feel at all like ever wanting to walk this path myself.

[Thekirkiepirate · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent account of a man's efforts to walk the line of the Western Front of WWI, alongside efforts to create a formalised walking route - the 'Via Sacra'. The whole idea was born during WWI, by a soldier who did not return - Douglas Gillespie.

The book was outstanding on a number of fronts - as well as describing the landscape he was walking through, he recounts the history of the war in the places that he visits, revealing a lot of information that I knew nothing about. I was also in awe of the way that he managed to keep going, despite the physical hardships he was enduring - for example, the most appalling blisters on his feet. As someone who was not accustomed to long-distance walking, the fact that he could keep going, day after day, was quite astonishing.

He also discusses many personal issue, such as the recent loss of his wife. An interesting point that emerges on a number of occasions is the anxiety that he feels has spread throughout his family emanating from his grandfather's experiences of WWI. It made me reflect that perhaps one of the reasons for the recent increases in mental health conditions has come from similar anxieties suffered from previous generations, particularly in WWII.

[Kelvin Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

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. In many respects, though obviously to a lesser extent, his travails provide a mirror to those poor souls who actually lost their lives in WW1: the loss of his wife, the constant worry that he might not complete the walk, the exploration of his own life. This isn’t to say the story is primarily about Anthony Seldon; he provides an extraordinary account of the war and the lives of the soldiers who lost theirs in the battles. His self-doubt and the physical hardships (he was sixty-eight at the time), establish a profound empathy with those who lost their lives in the battles on the Western Front. The website he’s established supports the history and the WFW trail financially through an app. Both a good historical account, and a personal adventure (will he complete the journey?), I recommend his account to anyone with an interest in this period and especially to anyone considering walking the trail.

[Sheena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very moving and I do hope this dream becomes a reality as a lasting monument for unnecessary deaths. Always been interested in this subject and it was hard to read (the numbers involved are simply mind numbing) I know it was a hard slog for the author but I felt he was a little self indulgent in dwelling on his difficulties physical and emotional especially as it was obvious how much of a privilaged life he led and a lot of the time he was enjoying gourmet meals and fine wine while making contact with people of influence who wouldn't show many of us the time of day.

[J.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because it was a gift from a family member. 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. With such a noble enterprise, it is difficult to criticise this book in any way, but in some ways I did find it awkward to read.

Four stars for its content and respectful, compassionate approach; one star down, because the presentation didn’t work for me. Anthony Seldon’s moving analysis of The First World War was interrupted by his family issues, his physical afflictions on the walk, and what I felt were modern (superficial) intrusions such as an interview on Sky and a message on Twitter. I didn’t really appreciate the comparisons he made initially with Patrick Leigh Fermor, and I was quite upset with him near the end when he gave away the ending of Erich Maria Remarque’s “All Quiet on the Western Front”. This made me say to myself, “Who is his audience? Anyone my age knows the terrible carnage of the war, and feels it. Someone younger, for whom one would imagine the walk is destined, might not have yet read one of the world’s greatest novels and now he’s spoiled the end for them. Who is he writing for? He writes freely about seeking peace for himself, in the bereavement he has suffered, and talks about “moving on” (symbolised by the walk), but it altered my perspective on his undertaking, and unfortunately seemed trivial by comparison with the book’s material.

I haven’t read any other book by Anthony Seldon, but I think this must have been a very different undertaking for him personally than would have been his previous books, political analyses of former UK Prime Ministers. He has researched tirelessly and has worked admirably to establish the “path of peace”. This is highly laudable and the book contains a plethora of information. I will use it as a reference source if I am ever looking for detail on the terrible battles my grandfather and so many others fought in the desolation of northern France. While I was familiar with the extent of the battles in which the British took part, Ypres, the Somme, Passchendaele, I did not know the full, terrible, extent of the French battle of Verdun, and found the chapter on this very moving.

Let me get to where he shines, which, I think, is in his analytical observations. This paragraph, for example, took me by surprise.

“When I stopped here on my exploratory walk in the summer of 2016, we were surprised to be told by guides that no American president has visited Romagne, despite it being the biggest American cemetery in Europe. So why so little interest in America in this war?
The First World War was the first American War not to bequeath a prominent commander as president. The War of Independence gave George Washington a national profile that helped him become the new country’s first head of state. [More examples follow}. But Pershing never even ran for president, another marker of the way the war is regarded in the United States.
Distancing from the war within Congress and beyond had begun even while the guns were still raging. Memories of the Civil War were still vivid; this, not the 1917-18 war, was to Americans, their own ‘Great War’. It had lasted four years, divided the country and killed over 650,000 people. The First World War, in contrast, was a faraway war, with American forces only fighting in the final months as subordinate forces to the Old World powers . . .”

I hadn’t ever thought about the Civil War having been so recent, or the close identification in the USA between their political leader and their war commander (despite our Churchill in World War Two!). There’s a lot more on this subject, with facts and figures, which I’m not good at retaining, and some interesting points about how much, by contrast, World War Two meant to Americans, including the role of Hollywood in its promulgation. There were other sections like this that held my attention. But I turned aside from the personal ‘intrusions’, as I saw them, and I could not read the more distressing accounts of battle, so I’m left with a very fragmented impression of the book. The author’s dedication and hard work have indeed resulted in a path of peace being established. The patient, deeply compassionate, detail Seldon gives of these young soldiers is a worthy tribute to them – one aspect I haven’t mentioned is his sensitive portrayal of war memorials, and the preservation of trenches and destroyed villages which bear witness.

The book is a faithful history of the detail of the war in France and Belgium. I wouldn’t presume to take issue with that, and I imagine that it would be a very useful source of knowledge and analysis for anyone needing to study or learn about The Western Front. For me it was as if there was too much packed into it, and it was distracting to have had the book manoeuvred into such a personal shape. I hope that Anthony Seldon did find his own peace, scattering the traces of his own life’s battles along the path of “the silent witnesses”.

[Anthony Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possibly best known for his books about prime ministers, aspects of education and the promotion of happiness, in this one Anthony Seldon explores a more personal world. He sets out to walk from the mountains at the southern end of a proposed Western Front Way to the English Channel, largely to honour the hopes of Douglas Gillespie, a young soldier killed in September 1915 at the Battle of Loos, that such a ‘Via Sacra’ should be created as a kind of memorial, a living monument, to the heroism of those who fought in the war and as a promotion of peace. But he, Seldon, sets out also to try to achieve some sense of peace for himself following the death of his wife, Joanna, and his consequent total disorientation and loss of purpose.

My experience of Anthony Seldon, for whom I was lucky enough to work, is that he is a man concerned to contribute to the betterment of the world, and that he has a burning sense that this is his life’s purpose. For him to have lost that sense must have been a catastrophe, and it helps explain why, when faced with an unreliable back, increasingly blistered and dangerously raw feet which several medical staff advise him must be rested if he is to avoid permanent damage, and a persistent anxiety that, after he is bitten by a dog, he might develop rabies, let alone contract covid in a just-unlocked-down France, he is determined to finish his walk. Frequently he reminds himself of what Douglas Gillespie and his millions of fellow soldiers went through, and drives himself on and, apart from one section of the walk which he is forced by injury to omit – he returns some time later to complete it as it is the section where Gillespie (and, incidentally, my great uncle Aff) was killed - he keeps to his timetable which includes a planned break to attend his younger daughter’s wedding in South-West France. Seldon, dear reader, is no wimp.

He is, moreover, a blooming good historian, and much of this narrative will appeal to anyone interested in the First World War. Myself, I found some of the historical detail a little wearisome, but Seldon is a good enough raconteur to include plenty of material to keep the reader interested. His descriptions of the countryside and sometimes nigh-deserted, often economically depressed towns trying to resume normal life after covid are very good. He enjoys excellent food on occasions as well as a good many supermarket sandwiches and pains au chocolat, some inadequate accommodation as well as some palatial, visits to hospitals (including one packed so full of covid coughers that he defers being treated for his suppurating feet), meeting friends who walk some sections with him, keeps in touch with the cricket and various interviews he is committed to using his phone, gets lost and struggles along main roads for lack of footpaths, and enjoys several conversations with taxi drivers who ferry him from the end of a day’s walking to his hotel and back again in the morning when he resumes his trek.

And does he achieve a personal peace?

That is for you to find out.

By the way, I think it a measure of the man that in the dedication of ‘The Path of Peace’, Seldon specifies ‘All profits from the book will go to the Western Front Way’.

[Franco · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in the W W 1 and the Western Front, this will appeal to you.

Anthony Seldon was inspired by a letter a young but soon-to-be-killed officer called Alexander Douglas Gillespie had sent his parents from the western front. This described his dream of creating a commemorative path after the war, along no man’s land all the way from Switzerland to the Channel. After that, he wrote, he hoped to “send every man and child in Western Europe on pilgrimage along that Via Sacra, so that they might think and learn what war means from the silent witnesses on either side”.

Convinced that this was “the best idea that emerged from the war”, Seldon set up a charity to realise Gillespie’s dream and create the Western Front Way, a hugely ambitious task, he explains, given that “far less than 1% of the lines of trenches remained, with the rest ploughed over to restore working farmland”. Then he decided to walk the whole route – both to publicise the project (which will receive all the profits from The Path of Peace) and, he hoped, to help him achieve more balance in his own life.

The book is there for a mix of a diary of the walk, comments on the various battlefields he passes through or near and his personal reflections.

I was at first somewhat put off by his personal reflective style, but this grew on me as the book progressed. My biggest surprise was how physically and mentally he was unprepared for the challenge, including a complete lack of preparation in regard to the route and equipment needed.

This is not a guidebook but an overview of what the route is like and an encouragement to follow it up.

Well worth the read even if the writer's style could be described as quirky".

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure if I was in the right mood to read this book, which I think has the best intentions but is vague and rambling. I also found myself constantly thinking this is an insanely badly prepared trip.

Seldon's plan was to walk from the Swiss border to the Channel coast to help raise awareness for a planned 'Western Front Way' a path of remembrance as suggested in his letters by Douglas Gillespie, a young British solider who died during World War One. He felt it might be the best way to both remember those that died and to serve as a lesson in the pointlessness of war.

Seldon undertook this walk during the Covid pandemic and he seems to have been pretty slack in his preparation. He found himself facing a deadline of his own making. There was a point I thought 'just stop and do this when Covid is better and you don't have to force the pace to hit a deadline.' And whilst I admire the bloody minded stubbornness that kept him going I also found myself thinking that he was lucky to make it to the end without doing himself a major injury. The number of times he's not drinking enough fluids, not eating enough to keep his energy up etc. I started to wonder if he was doing it deliberately.

It does do a reasonable job of explaining what happened at various points in World War One at various places but in the end I felt this was a book written with the best intentions that never quite worked out what it wanted to be - or what it should be.

[Anthony Frobisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stepping through history

Sir Anthony Seldon's account of his mainly solo walk along the 1914-1918 Western Front is both homage to those who fought, died and sacrificed so much in 'The Great War' and a cry to the world in a time of renewed conflict and instability to preserve peace and reach across borders.
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. To remember those who fought and died, to honour their memory and foster peace and understanding.
Seldon has led the movement to create The Western Front Way from Kilometre Zero in Switzerland to the North Sea coast.
The book is full of detail and absorbing in explanation of the frequently, tragically futile battles that led to thousand of casualties. And so often ground gained to be lost months later. Passing through rebuilt towns and cities, destroyed villages, numerous memorials and remains of trenches and shell craters, Seldon paints a vivid picture of the bloody campaigns.
Yet, it is also a book that is healing, cathartic. As Seldon reflects on personal grief, and a sense of being directionless in life. The walk he hopes, will lead him to resolution and answers to the questions he asks of himself.
A huge undertaking and a book that is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the First World War.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the cover! And I love the idea, first suggested by a First World War officer, Douglas Gillespie, to turn the entire Western Front into a Path of Peace. Anthony Seldon is so attracted to the idea that he is actually working to make it a reality - a huge bureaucratic undertaking - including walking the 1,000 km route himself. For most of the book, I thought he was doing a good job of putting people off. Having to walk either along busy French roads or on non way-marked paths that invariably gave out and resulted in lengthy detours. He suffers from having petrol syphoned off, being bitten by a farm dog (no apology from the farmer) and being deliberately drenched in a polluted liquid thrown from a passing van, not to mention infections from insect bites and blisters (three trips to French A&Es along the way). But, in the afterword section, he assures us that the path is quickly becoming established, now fully way-marked in Belgium and ever more so through France, away from busy roads.
The book also has a lot of interesting history, organised geographically south to north. Particularly in France, many of the sites and memorials of the First World War were further damaged in the Second.

[Stuart Moodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was given to me as a birthday present, and was the first of Seldon's books I've read (he has written or co-written many, mostly political). The book follows his progress along an, unyet fully marked footpath along the WW1 Western front. He is walking in a time of transition in his life, he was grieving for his wife who had recently died, his job had ended and he was temporarily homeless. His circumstances add to the tone of the book; he has deadline to finish the walk and his body is not performing as well as he would want and he constantly doubts he will succeed. His walk is also shaped by the experiences of a young soldier's experiences on the western front and his letters home, who's idea the footpath was. Along with all of this is a continuous history of the War area by area. This all makes for a fascinating read. My only criticism would be - not enough to knock a star off - was the quality of the photographic reproduction. This is a lovely hard back so it would gave been nice to have photos of a similar quality. That aside I thought this was an excellent interesting and uplifting read!

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an outstanding piece of work by one of the UK's most distinguished educationalists and political historians. Following the idea of a young British officer killed in the First World War, the book describes how Sir Anthony Seldon walked along the line of the Western Front in 2021 from the Swiss border to the North Sea coast.

The writing is so vivid and powerful that you feel that you are with Seldon all the way as he reflects on the war, the landscape, and how he tackles the many physical challenges of such an endeavour. Seldon writes movingly of his own personal life, especially the recent loss of his wife, and one is left at the end with a feeling of hope - both for the success of the Western Front Way project and for those who engage with it.

The reader does not have to be a First World War expert to appreciate the historical background, as the relevant elements of the conflict are cleverly explained in the course of the narrative.

This is a very moving and informative book which I strongly recommend.

[Christian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't like giving one star reviews because usually it isn't worth it. By my goodness was this book ever a bore. With such a promising set up, I can't see how the author fumbled this hard.

First off this whole trip is so poorly planned and bound for failure. Like not every single day should be a struggle, unless he was trying to compare himself to the soldiers who had their own hardships (but that's obviously negated by the luxury hotels, dinners and taxi rides every day).

Then the COVID of it all - it just hasn't aged well in my opinion. Then the writing felt so disjointed, purposeless and amateurish (which isn't something that should be said of someone who has written as much as him). And then just how British centric it is. If it's your mission to commemorate the first world war and the western front, maybe you should do more than just mention anyone other than the Brits in passing.

The only thing going for this was its nice cover, which is why I chose to read it. I should have given up on this book, but then I wouldn't have been able to justify the rating.

[Graham Addison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the Path of Peace. It is an interesting mixture of travelogue, history and personal reflection. Anthony Seldon undertakes the walk in memory of a soldier who died in the First World War who suggested the idea of the walk along the route of the trenches on the Western Front. He also undertakes it after a series of personal crises; the death of his wife and leaving his job. So the walk is a walk of rediscovery and reflection. The book covers this and his physical travails while undertaking the walk.

It is not a history book of the First World War and there are some nitpicking things which I could say were not quite correct, but while this book will undoubtedly interest students of WWI it is not a history of the war.

It is an intensely personal work of someone trying to rediscover themselves and advance a worthy cause.

Having read the book I am encouraged to go and walk some of the route.

[Phil Curme · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Western Front Way was conceived as a long distance footpath around about the time of the First World War centenary. It is quite an undertaking, particularly in view of the distance (from the Swiss Border to the Channel Coast) and the fact that the Front Line did flex backwards and forwards over the course of the First World War. This is a 'warts and all' account of the authors' attempt to walk the whole route. Pertinent quotations from first hand accounts of the fighting supplement keen historical observations about each leg of the journey. For the author, the walk was a massive undertaking and his candour in recounting the compromises he had to make, and the impact of on his well bring add authenticity and colour to the narrative. On the latter point, his trials and tribulations has put me off attempting the whole route myself. Maybe I'll walk a few of the sections!

[Gary Lawrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst Anthony Sheldon is very much an establishment figure he is never afraid to be honest in his writing as seen in his recent eviscerating of BoJo and Liz Truss. Here he tells the story behind the establishment of a long distance walk along the length of WW1 western front. He is also addressing some inner issues after the death of his wife a few years before. Seldon begins at the border with Switzerland and the first half covers theatres I am less aware of in my readings before arriving in the Somme and Ypres more familiar to UK readers. Don't get him to plan your long distance walk as there were so many planning errors which made the physical challenge of the walk so much more difficult.
Amongst the story of the walk he tells the tale of the young Scottish soldier who died at the Battle of the Loos and who inspired the idea of the walk.
An enjoyable book written by a great author.

[Peter Thew · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unusual and outstanding book. Seldon's interest in World War 1 stretches back many years through his working life including hosting a number of trips to the trenches in Belgium and Northern France. Struck by the diary of 19 year-old Raymond Gillespie who was killed in the Battle of Loos, he decides to take Gillespie's idea for a Sacra Via literally - a path of peace that follows the 1,000km of the front line from the Swiss border to the English Channel. Over the space of 38 days in late Summer 2021, he walks the entire length of the trenches both as a means of promoting the idea of the Way and trying to come to terms with his own life and history. A great testament to an astonishing idea.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book about the author's attempt to walk along the western front of WWI. I learned a lot about WWI that i didn't know and that was the part I enjoyed most about this book. The author decided to do this walk after learning of a letter written by a young soldier, Alexander Douglas Gillespie, to his headmaster hoping that when the war was over, a "path of peace" would be developed along the western front. And hoped to bring people together after this terrible tragedy of war. This intrigued the author and he decided to attempt the walk in hopes of being able to start a drive to delineate a trail of peace.

Definite ups and downs for the author, but it was a wonderful read and learned a lot. Hope the Western Front Way does develop. We need it more than ever!!

[Lewis Cheke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got bought this a present, it wasn’t a book I’d heard of prior. Having always been fascinated by the First World War and then read the premise, this did have the potential to be exactly what I’d like. And I have to say, it didn’t particularly disappoint.
Starting off on the negative, I do have to say that I felt at times, too much time was spent waffling about the accommodation and food eaten during his travel, rather than the actual subject of the book. Sometimes a more vivid description of the terrain and area would have been better, I feel at times it was rather vague and lacking. He’s constant trips to hotels, only to reset back to where he was the prior day also felt a little convoluted and made the trip feel slightly cheap. Maybe that’s where I’d have expected it to be done in one continuous go.
However, on the flip side it was a great premise. Following the concept laid down by a fallen British soldier over a hundred years before, it was cool for that idea to finally come to fruition.
I also learnt a lot about the lesser battles and smaller sectors, like down near the Swiss border. His level of detail recounting actions, and the addition of quotes and letters really did add to the immersion.
Definitely worth a read if you’re into the First World War. It expands your knowledge and understanding, and it’s very interesting to see how the countryside looks now after all of those years.

[Malcolm Schaffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book.I am more familiar with Anthony Seldon writing highly informative biographies on prime ministers.This is very different ,a description of a walk commemorating the Western Front ,a long arduous walk completed with great fortitude by the author but not without a fair share of mishaps.woven into the narrative is some excellent history of the fighting in World War One and the horrendous and unnecessary loss of life .I particularly admire the way Prof Sheldon opens himself up ,vulnerable through having recently become a widower and through anxiety attacks.Unlike many travel books this really brings the experience alive .very sad when the book ended ,clear sign of its quality

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was easy to read and as it is a personal account I quickly built an empathy with the author. As a bit of a WW1 buff I found the descriptions of the battles and aftermath (abandoned villages) most interesting. As his journey involved a lot of walking along busy roads I thought it did not paint the Western Front Way in the best light and I hope its final route is a bit more rural. I am still encouraged to walk it however. I think the book could have done with some better maps though. Overall, highly recommended.

[Chris Gruar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful blend of history and through-hiking, balancing past events with an insightful symbiosis between primary sources and social memory. I found it often frustrating cycling between Ypres and Verdun without following closely following the trenches, so Seldon's memoir essentially filled in these gaps and will no doubt prove a nostalgic and thought-provoking read for anyone who has visited The Western Front.

[Tamsin Burley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly what I was expecting (although I don't actually know what I was expecting!), nevertheless I really enjoyed this. A combination of introspective diary, war diary and travel writing, I'm not going to lie, it's made me interested in doing this walk. I did get irritated with all his descriptions about his feet, however!