In the Land of Giants: A Journey Through the Dark Ages

Rambling about his native Great Britain, writer and archaeologist Adams (The Wisdom of Trees) reveals the subtle ways in which the past permeates the present, despite the presence of modern motorways and housing developments. “I went to Wessex to walk with the heroes of the Dark Ages,” he writes, “not to praise them, but to understand how a mythic past has infiltrated the fabric of the landscape.” Adams peers into the countryside and sees what was once there, imagining the inhabitants of centuries past. Archeology can say what happened, but “rarely can it say why.” Part history lesson, part travelogue, and part philosophical musing, this book reminds readers of a world in which time and distance were measured differently. This is not an idyllic journey. There are blisters, mud, cold, more mud, and encounters with a “megalithic tentacle roundabout” and a business park that is “a creepy landscape, overdesigned, inorganic, and inhuman.” This is a book to savor; as readers travel with Adams, noting meetings with strangers, discoveries of ancient shrines and henges, and enjoying intimate contact with the surroundings, they will long to get some hiking boots and a staff to follow these forgotten trails. Photos. (Oct.)