What do you think?
Rate this book
Ancient Wonderings
‘Intensely alive to the landscape; its pasts, people and creatures’ Robert Macfarlane
Take a journey into our ancient past. Explore a long-lost landscape and gradually discover the minds, beliefs and cultural practices of those souls who lived on these lands thousands of years before you.
Travelling the length and breadth of Britain, James Canton pursues his obsession with the physical traces of the ancient world: stone circles, flint arrowheads, sacred stones, gold, and a lost Roman road. He ponders the features of the natural world that occupied ancient minds: the night sky, shooting stars, the rising and setting sun. Wandering to the furthest reaches of the islands, he finds an undeciphered standing stone north of Aberdeen and follows the first footsteps on the edge of a long-lost Ice Age land in the North Sea.
As Canton walks the modern terrain, slowly understanding the ancient signs that lie within and beneath it, he weaves a gentle tale of discovery, showing how, beyond the superficial differences of life-style and culture, the ancient inhabitants of the British Isles were much closer to the present-day one than we might imagine.
Take a journey into our ancient past. Explore a long-lost landscape and gradually discover the minds, beliefs and cultural practices of those souls who lived on these lands thousands of years before you.
Travelling the length and breadth of Britain, James Canton pursues his obsession with the physical traces of the ancient world: stone circles, flint arrowheads, sacred stones, gold, and a lost Roman road. He ponders the features of the natural world that occupied ancient minds: the night sky, shooting stars, the rising and setting sun. Wandering to the furthest reaches of the islands, he finds an undeciphered standing stone north of Aberdeen and follows the first footsteps on the edge of a long-lost Ice Age land in the North Sea.
As Canton walks the modern terrain, slowly understanding the ancient signs that lie within and beneath it, he weaves a gentle tale of discovery, showing how, beyond the superficial differences of life-style and culture, the ancient inhabitants of the British Isles were much closer to the present-day one than we might imagine.
344 pages, Hardcover
Published June 15, 2017
5 people are currently reading
198 people want to read
About the author
James Canton
19 books82 followersJames Canton teaches the Wild Writing MA course at the University of Essex, exploring the fascinating ties between literature and the landscape of East Anglia. He has run workshops to encourage writing on nature and landscape and is the author of Out of Essex: Re-Imagining a Literary Landscape, which was inspired by rural wanderings in the county.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 25, 2017
The UK has a long history of human occupation. Taking a walk in the town or countryside will reveal traces of the past in the lumps and bumps of the fields and the streets of a city that show an earlier layout. You can tread the same paths as people have walked for millennia, across the ridgeways of the chalk downs and through sunken holloways. The ancient world does give up its secrets easily, it normally involves careful study of a site, whilst considering it within the context of the wider landscape. Sifting the evidence often involves moving large amounts of soil to get an insight to how things were.
Even then, some things will always remain a mystery as Canton discovers when he visits a stone in the very north of Scotland. This stone has writing on that no one has been able to decipher and it is thought that no one ever will. This minor setback aside, it was still a place that oozed character and antiquity and fuelled his obsession with the traces of the past. He is driven to find the answers to various questions that he has wondered about, to go to the places that our ancestors inhabited and to hold the things that they have made. His wanderings will take him out on a small boat to float over Doggerland, a place that lives just below the waves of the North Sea, learns how to knap flint, undertakes an ambitious walk along the Peddars Way and searches for an elusive section of Roman road near where he lives. There is an inevitable trip to Stonehenge and the revelation that ancient Britons also mummified the deceased. Canton is lucky enough to get to hold a couple of nuggets of Irish and Cornish gold that was shipped back and forwards across the Irish Sea and to see the astonishing quality of the fabulous sun discs made by craftsmen thousands of years ago.
The ancient world has always fascinated me and where I live in Dorset I am fortunate to have a proliferation of barrows, hill forts and henges nearby to get my fix of prehistoric history; just like James Canton has to. What comes across in this book is his infectious enthusiasm for the past and a desire to go and experience these activities and places for himself. The prose is full of wry observations as he takes us on his discoveries to meet those engaging with our ancestors and the techniques they used to make objects that were significant or precious in some way. I liked the underlying and subtle humour and the images chosen at the beginning of each chapter fitted well. It was just a pleasure to read and hopefully, it will inspire those that read it to discover the prehistoric landscape in their local area.
Even then, some things will always remain a mystery as Canton discovers when he visits a stone in the very north of Scotland. This stone has writing on that no one has been able to decipher and it is thought that no one ever will. This minor setback aside, it was still a place that oozed character and antiquity and fuelled his obsession with the traces of the past. He is driven to find the answers to various questions that he has wondered about, to go to the places that our ancestors inhabited and to hold the things that they have made. His wanderings will take him out on a small boat to float over Doggerland, a place that lives just below the waves of the North Sea, learns how to knap flint, undertakes an ambitious walk along the Peddars Way and searches for an elusive section of Roman road near where he lives. There is an inevitable trip to Stonehenge and the revelation that ancient Britons also mummified the deceased. Canton is lucky enough to get to hold a couple of nuggets of Irish and Cornish gold that was shipped back and forwards across the Irish Sea and to see the astonishing quality of the fabulous sun discs made by craftsmen thousands of years ago.
The ancient world has always fascinated me and where I live in Dorset I am fortunate to have a proliferation of barrows, hill forts and henges nearby to get my fix of prehistoric history; just like James Canton has to. What comes across in this book is his infectious enthusiasm for the past and a desire to go and experience these activities and places for himself. The prose is full of wry observations as he takes us on his discoveries to meet those engaging with our ancestors and the techniques they used to make objects that were significant or precious in some way. I liked the underlying and subtle humour and the images chosen at the beginning of each chapter fitted well. It was just a pleasure to read and hopefully, it will inspire those that read it to discover the prehistoric landscape in their local area.
November 23, 2017
Ancient Wonderings is a good title although I had initially read it as Ancient Wanderings.
I have read numerous history/landscape books where the author pursues tracks and trails to reach back to the past.
But James Canton is different in that a lot of his investigations take the form of pitching his tent on or next to the area under consideration ...............and then spending time (often days) just pondering.
His investigation is with his mind every bit as much as with a spade or more modern forms of archaeology. And he's often left worn out and weary by the effort of thinking of the past.
He always understands the limitations of trying to put himself in his ancestors shoes (or whatever they wore 200 generations ago). So fortunately we don't get winsome flights of fantasy.
I'm fortunate to live smack in the middle of a prehistoric landscape (there are Neolithic Henges just up the lane from where we live) and I fully understand the draw of such places. They are the subject of local superstition even now with some locals avoiding them at night.
Very enjoyable read - and would love Canton to move beyond Britain and 'wonder' in Europe or further..........
I have read numerous history/landscape books where the author pursues tracks and trails to reach back to the past.
But James Canton is different in that a lot of his investigations take the form of pitching his tent on or next to the area under consideration ...............and then spending time (often days) just pondering.
His investigation is with his mind every bit as much as with a spade or more modern forms of archaeology. And he's often left worn out and weary by the effort of thinking of the past.
He always understands the limitations of trying to put himself in his ancestors shoes (or whatever they wore 200 generations ago). So fortunately we don't get winsome flights of fantasy.
I'm fortunate to live smack in the middle of a prehistoric landscape (there are Neolithic Henges just up the lane from where we live) and I fully understand the draw of such places. They are the subject of local superstition even now with some locals avoiding them at night.
Very enjoyable read - and would love Canton to move beyond Britain and 'wonder' in Europe or further..........
April 18, 2024
According to the attached author profile, James Canton teaches a course on writing about the wilderness, and it shows, in this stunning masterclass on nature writing, archaeology exploration, and meditation on the prehistoric way of life. Writing with an unpretentious but precise and moving manner, he transports us to the world of Mesolithic Britain while he documents evocatively his odysseys through ravines and grottos, copses and hedges, fenced gardens and glades, meadows and the remains of the ancient Roman roads, drenching rain and billowing clouds alight with color, through England and Scotland.
June 25, 2017
The brief, stream-of-consciousness review I wrote of the last book I read (Peter Ackroyd's "Foudation") had two chief criticisms:
1. I don't know how to write compellingly about history so you feel like you were there, but this isn't it. Too many kings and battles, not enough humanity.
2. Can't we just focus on "prehistoric" Britain not go all Plantagenet-y all the time?
And VOILÀ, this book, Ancient Wonderings comes out, and I devour it instantly and love, love, love it! This was exactly what I wanted.
I mean, right at the beginning, he's riding around on train getting almost religious over the coincidence of PJ Harvey coming on his iPod just as he crosses into England. Then he talks about ancient stones. HOOKED.
It isn't a book I'd be clever enough to write, but I still felt like it was sucked out of my soul somewhere... though, clearly, Mr Canton is a more adventurous adventurer than I (I do not camp). His fascination with the ancient stone monuments in particular, with the Scottish islands in particular, really meshed with what I've been on about for the past few years. My obsessions have leant towards Orkney, but he's opened my mind to the Outer Hebrides completely. I have to go.
Even though they're difficult to understand and relate to, there is something very compelling about the extant standing stones and the archeologically-revealed dwellings of neolithic Britons. At least I've found it to be so. And Mr Canton wanders about England and Scotland communing with these places and trying to put himself in the shoes of their originators. He doesn't take this task lightly. There's mentions of science, archaeology proper, and other "hard" facts, but what I love about this book is how much time is devoted to trying to *feel* the Neolithic (and Paleolithic, and a bit of Roman occupation). That might sound corny, but it isn't... it's effective and lovely.
Mr Canton's writing is very evocative and quite poetic in places… he certainly brings places to life with details of the birds and plants and types of stones on the beach. There are places where it gets vaguely mystical, and I found each completely reasonable.
His sheer appreciation (awe, love) of certain archeological finds puts my art history degree to shame. Somehow through his writing, you know not just what an object looks like (whether you've seen it or not) but you understand why and how its special on a very deep level. I was already really into those Scottish carved stone balls, but some of Mr Canton's obsessiveness about them has definitely worn off on me. And the bronze age sun disks. My goodness.
The section about detectorists was a comfort. I too, always *think* that searching for treasure with beeping gadget would be the most fun one could have... but never actually pursue it in real life. I just like to fantasize about it. (The one time I rented a metal detector, all I got were horrible bug bites.)
And the part about the place that fictional Sue Bridehead went to teaching college — ok, that wasn't what it was about, exactly, but sure, as if talking about a preserved ancient archer who emigrated from Europe to Britain isn't cool enough, throw in Jude the Obscure and JMW Turner in the same chapter. Man, I love this book.
I'm crap at writing book reviews. I forget all the things I wanted to comment on because I don't take notes, and I never bother to write in any sort of structure or very coherently, but I can't say enough about this book. Maybe it's just because it's EXACTLY the book I wanted to read, and it was beautifully written, full of things to learn and pursue, and places to visit. I am so impressed by the amount of empathy in this book. AND THE AMOUNT OF TEA! I HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK WHERE SOMEONE DRANK SO MANY CUPS OF TEA AND MENTIONED IT. I'm fairly certain Mr Canton should win some sort of tea award for what he's done here. It made me terribly happy, anyway.
Please write more like this.
1. I don't know how to write compellingly about history so you feel like you were there, but this isn't it. Too many kings and battles, not enough humanity.
2. Can't we just focus on "prehistoric" Britain not go all Plantagenet-y all the time?
And VOILÀ, this book, Ancient Wonderings comes out, and I devour it instantly and love, love, love it! This was exactly what I wanted.
I mean, right at the beginning, he's riding around on train getting almost religious over the coincidence of PJ Harvey coming on his iPod just as he crosses into England. Then he talks about ancient stones. HOOKED.
It isn't a book I'd be clever enough to write, but I still felt like it was sucked out of my soul somewhere... though, clearly, Mr Canton is a more adventurous adventurer than I (I do not camp). His fascination with the ancient stone monuments in particular, with the Scottish islands in particular, really meshed with what I've been on about for the past few years. My obsessions have leant towards Orkney, but he's opened my mind to the Outer Hebrides completely. I have to go.
Even though they're difficult to understand and relate to, there is something very compelling about the extant standing stones and the archeologically-revealed dwellings of neolithic Britons. At least I've found it to be so. And Mr Canton wanders about England and Scotland communing with these places and trying to put himself in the shoes of their originators. He doesn't take this task lightly. There's mentions of science, archaeology proper, and other "hard" facts, but what I love about this book is how much time is devoted to trying to *feel* the Neolithic (and Paleolithic, and a bit of Roman occupation). That might sound corny, but it isn't... it's effective and lovely.
Mr Canton's writing is very evocative and quite poetic in places… he certainly brings places to life with details of the birds and plants and types of stones on the beach. There are places where it gets vaguely mystical, and I found each completely reasonable.
His sheer appreciation (awe, love) of certain archeological finds puts my art history degree to shame. Somehow through his writing, you know not just what an object looks like (whether you've seen it or not) but you understand why and how its special on a very deep level. I was already really into those Scottish carved stone balls, but some of Mr Canton's obsessiveness about them has definitely worn off on me. And the bronze age sun disks. My goodness.
The section about detectorists was a comfort. I too, always *think* that searching for treasure with beeping gadget would be the most fun one could have... but never actually pursue it in real life. I just like to fantasize about it. (The one time I rented a metal detector, all I got were horrible bug bites.)
And the part about the place that fictional Sue Bridehead went to teaching college — ok, that wasn't what it was about, exactly, but sure, as if talking about a preserved ancient archer who emigrated from Europe to Britain isn't cool enough, throw in Jude the Obscure and JMW Turner in the same chapter. Man, I love this book.
I'm crap at writing book reviews. I forget all the things I wanted to comment on because I don't take notes, and I never bother to write in any sort of structure or very coherently, but I can't say enough about this book. Maybe it's just because it's EXACTLY the book I wanted to read, and it was beautifully written, full of things to learn and pursue, and places to visit. I am so impressed by the amount of empathy in this book. AND THE AMOUNT OF TEA! I HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK WHERE SOMEONE DRANK SO MANY CUPS OF TEA AND MENTIONED IT. I'm fairly certain Mr Canton should win some sort of tea award for what he's done here. It made me terribly happy, anyway.
Please write more like this.
February 11, 2018
The premise was great. The book itself wasn't bad, I learnt a lot of things I didn't know. The major problem with the book was the overly dramatic writing style (the constant '"Right," I said' was extremely annoying) and the patronising tone that was frequently adopted was both unnecessary and infuriating. I also didn't like the narrator's accent, but I'm not going to hold that against him.
January 2, 2018
Wondering (noun)
(rare) an object of wonder, a marvel.
In his engaging and approachable style, James Canton describes his interactions with ancient “wonderings” throughout Britain in order to humanise prehistory. He is not satisfied with the dry, incomprehensible stretch of millennia. He wants to bring the past alive.
I liked the idea of this more than the execution. I felt less like I was “journeying into prehistoric Britain”, and more as though I were being led on a confusing ramble around its borders. Canton often seemed to be on the verge of a great discovery… but then the chapter would suddenly end, mystery unsolved. His musings and conversations with various people mask the fact that, for many of these prehistoric sites and artefacts, we will never truly understand their purpose. The lack of recorded history and great swathe of time that separates us from the Mesolithic and Neolithic means that much of our “understanding” is guesswork. Ancient Wonderings would better have been described as an imaginative travelogue, rather than a discovery of the “minds, beliefs and cultural practices of those souls who lived on these lands thousands of years before you”.
Despite this, I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it if you enjoy a subjective flair to your history. It would also be a good starting point for anyone interested in these ancient, mysterious sites. Personally, though, I’d recommend Robert MacFarlane’s "The Old Ways" for something more lyrically written, and Neil Oliver’s "A History of Ancient Britain" or Francis Pryor’s "Britain BC" for something more deeply researched.
(rare) an object of wonder, a marvel.
In his engaging and approachable style, James Canton describes his interactions with ancient “wonderings” throughout Britain in order to humanise prehistory. He is not satisfied with the dry, incomprehensible stretch of millennia. He wants to bring the past alive.
I liked the idea of this more than the execution. I felt less like I was “journeying into prehistoric Britain”, and more as though I were being led on a confusing ramble around its borders. Canton often seemed to be on the verge of a great discovery… but then the chapter would suddenly end, mystery unsolved. His musings and conversations with various people mask the fact that, for many of these prehistoric sites and artefacts, we will never truly understand their purpose. The lack of recorded history and great swathe of time that separates us from the Mesolithic and Neolithic means that much of our “understanding” is guesswork. Ancient Wonderings would better have been described as an imaginative travelogue, rather than a discovery of the “minds, beliefs and cultural practices of those souls who lived on these lands thousands of years before you”.
Despite this, I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it if you enjoy a subjective flair to your history. It would also be a good starting point for anyone interested in these ancient, mysterious sites. Personally, though, I’d recommend Robert MacFarlane’s "The Old Ways" for something more lyrically written, and Neil Oliver’s "A History of Ancient Britain" or Francis Pryor’s "Britain BC" for something more deeply researched.
November 21, 2020
Fueling my love of Stone and Bronze Age Britain, this travelogue/documentary travels far more unfamiliar roads than the well-worn guide books to Ancient Britain. Much tea was drunk in the writing and the reading. Canton’s style is friendly, occasionally florid, but full of passion for the way things were so very long ago. I learned much of value.
February 10, 2025
I was expecting a book like Shadowlands by Matthew Green, a journey across Britain with interesting insights and the history of these ancient sites. Instead, the reader receives the disconnected musings of the author on, yes, the Bronze Age but more often on his family, birds, the difficulty of speaking to an archaeologist on the phone and Tess of the D'Urbervilles.
The descriptions of and (some) musings on the sites themselves are good, when we eventually get there, but the reader must wade through so much unnecessary digression to get there that it simply is not worth the effort.
Finally, I have a strong objection to the author stating that he has journeyd "the length and breadth of Britain" in this book. He entirely neglects Wales. The substantial focus of the book is on two sights in Scotland and one now in the North Sea, Doggerland, while Stonehenge makes a late appearance while the balance is on what he describes as Roman, not prehistoric, roads.
The descriptions of and (some) musings on the sites themselves are good, when we eventually get there, but the reader must wade through so much unnecessary digression to get there that it simply is not worth the effort.
Finally, I have a strong objection to the author stating that he has journeyd "the length and breadth of Britain" in this book. He entirely neglects Wales. The substantial focus of the book is on two sights in Scotland and one now in the North Sea, Doggerland, while Stonehenge makes a late appearance while the balance is on what he describes as Roman, not prehistoric, roads.
August 27, 2025
Candid and poetic, Canton produces a delightful overview of the ancient histories of the British Isles, with his own travel musings and the opinions of local experts laced throughout. Numerous interesting facts sprung from the page, from gold-trading Cornish merchants in the bronze age to neolithic mummifications along the Norfolk coast, which Canton detailed with flourishes and wit. There was, however, a sense of disconnection between the numerous parts that were explored, and an over-zealousness in the more travel-related side of the book. The final chapter - which could have done with being a 'conclusion' - pulled some of the non-linear discoveries together, but the book verges more on a travel journal than an explorative history in some places. With that being said, the book has a certain charm to it, and for a 350 page book it was pleasant and enjoyable nonetheless.
August 31, 2023
Although there were a couple of moments when the narrative became a little navel-gazy with a hint of self-indulgence for ninety nine percent of the time I was enraptured by this travelogue that didn’t just take me across the country but thousands of years back in time as well.
In discussing some of the lesser known sites in the UK I found myself learning things I don’t think I would have come across anywhere else and the way the academic articles he was inspired by and worked with were woven into the textand explained was truly excellent. Anyone with an interest in the pre-history of our world would be well advised to get hold of a copy.
In discussing some of the lesser known sites in the UK I found myself learning things I don’t think I would have come across anywhere else and the way the academic articles he was inspired by and worked with were woven into the textand explained was truly excellent. Anyone with an interest in the pre-history of our world would be well advised to get hold of a copy.
January 18, 2021
This was interesting in that it was about ancient British history, but also a bit of a bio and travel book, where James recounts his wonderings around Britain, walking ancient trails, seeing megalithic sites and talking to all sorts of people over a number of years. A bit of the funny and quirky keeps the reading interesting, and each chapter is like a short story, looking at a specific piece of history.
August 25, 2018
A set of psychogeographical essays on the authors travels through different ancient landscapes in Britain;with the central theme being our ancestors' relationship with stone, wood, metal and the landscape. Quite a mixed bag. Some of the essays engage more than the others. A book to be dipped into rather than read from cover to cover as each section stands alone.
August 7, 2024
If you’re a fan of the Travel Channel this is the book for you. Rick Steves Europe meets Expedition Unknown
February 21, 2025
I did not mind this book. It comes down to expectations: mine were for something akin to Robert MacFarlane’s wanderings, but what was this? There are bits of history, bits of historical fiction (I’ll get to this), and some other genres included here. The order of the chapters isn’t chronological either (which always annoys me).
But what do we have? Each chapter, generally unlinked to the previous ones, relates an episode in the author’s story where he was investigating some period or place. The most recent of these (I believe) would have been in Roman Britain while the oldest go back tens of thousands of years. I’m fascinated by prehistory, much like Mr Canton, but I’m of a completely different mind as to how we should try and envision that period.
The author’s style is to head off and camp on a beach or walk on an old road, pretending he’s five or ten thousand years in the past and to try and comprehend his surroundings via that method. Well, a good walk is one of the best pastimes, but I don’t believe for a second that we have any chance of trying to step into the Bronze Age via the method—a society, then and now, can be (somewhat) understood by knowing what it’s most important priorities are. But how do we really know what was important to them?
In one case, the author actually describes this in relation to burial traditions. We don’t know if the specific way some folks are buried reflects a specific tradition that is only a part of a much larger tradition. We are a grain of sand and we postulate a beach while in reality there was a sandstorm. Or something like this…
So it is the the majority of this book feels like historical fiction. The author is clearly a knowledgeable individual who enjoys history, but at least in the way we enjoy it, we must differ.
This review was originally posted on my blog.
But what do we have? Each chapter, generally unlinked to the previous ones, relates an episode in the author’s story where he was investigating some period or place. The most recent of these (I believe) would have been in Roman Britain while the oldest go back tens of thousands of years. I’m fascinated by prehistory, much like Mr Canton, but I’m of a completely different mind as to how we should try and envision that period.
The author’s style is to head off and camp on a beach or walk on an old road, pretending he’s five or ten thousand years in the past and to try and comprehend his surroundings via that method. Well, a good walk is one of the best pastimes, but I don’t believe for a second that we have any chance of trying to step into the Bronze Age via the method—a society, then and now, can be (somewhat) understood by knowing what it’s most important priorities are. But how do we really know what was important to them?
In one case, the author actually describes this in relation to burial traditions. We don’t know if the specific way some folks are buried reflects a specific tradition that is only a part of a much larger tradition. We are a grain of sand and we postulate a beach while in reality there was a sandstorm. Or something like this…
So it is the the majority of this book feels like historical fiction. The author is clearly a knowledgeable individual who enjoys history, but at least in the way we enjoy it, we must differ.
This review was originally posted on my blog.
March 3, 2018
I listened to this one on audiobook and it was a lovely companion on my morning walks through London. It adds a real personable human element to these complex histories and the descriptions of nature are beautiful.
August 7, 2024
James Canton includes some fascinating details about our ancient past (for example, new evidence that Bronze Age Britons practised mummification).
However, these are intercut with so many irrelevant asides about his daily life (his daughter's school play, how difficult it was for him to get hold of a particular professor, the automated message from his library service about a reserved item), that I felt like throwing the book across the room.
However, these are intercut with so many irrelevant asides about his daily life (his daughter's school play, how difficult it was for him to get hold of a particular professor, the automated message from his library service about a reserved item), that I felt like throwing the book across the room.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews