[Sprawson] has an ornate style of prose, apparently smooth, but rippling with wit and candour… Haunts of the Black Masseur was a delight when I read it first time round and 25 years on, it strikes me as even better

­Original and sparkling… A haunting, sensual, slippery read that will make you long for seaweed on your skin and sand between your toes. A must for swimmers

A wholly original idea...a brilliant translation of a singular passion

A devoted and luminously romantic history of swimming

An exhilarating plunge into some of the deepest pools inside our heads... Magnificently obsessive, this social and cultural history of swimming is the best book I read this year

An extraordinary book: I thought I wouldn't care a fig for it but was suddenly and immediately enthralled. Exceptionally entertaining and compelling

One wants to put it down - and jump straight into the pool

Inspired by his own obsession with immersion, Charles Sprawson has written a mesmeric account, both sensual and erudite, of individual and cultural preoccupations with water.

Magnificent

Fascinating

A delightful, profound cultural and literary history of swimming, bathing and the social meanings of water from ancient Greece to the modern Olympics

All too rarely does a book of striking originality float to the surface; this is one

This is an agreeably obsessive book, full of unusual information

A grotesque, horrifying, repellent and gorgeous book; A Clockwork Orange come to life.

A very readable, often funny, book.

His prose is tough and vivid

Buford pushes the possibilities of participatory journalism to a disturbing degree . . . Among the Thugs does severe damage to the conventional wisdom that England and Europe are bastions of civilization.

Buford's book is important in that it offers a far more compelling explanation for the football violence than any offered by the pundits of Left and Right . . . Had Buford's account been written by a tabloid reporter or an academic sociologist it might be more easily dismissed. That is comes from a highly intelligent observer, and a neutral outsider with no axe to grind, makes his book all the more powerful and yet troubling.

Buford’s accounts of the thugs he moved with are by turns amazing, repugnant, stunning, horrid and exhilarating.

The defining book on England’s hooliganism

Filled with wry humour, this is a wonderfully uplifting and touching book

This is a wonderful, heart-gladdening, life-affirming read. It will make you want to walk. What a gem.

Luminescent. A literary phenomenon

Utterly inspirational

The Salt Path broke my heart and put it back together again over and over. Beautiful writing, and such a sharp eye - both for nature and for people. It's hopeful and sad and honest and I LOVED it.

Harnesses the wildness of rock, sky and coastal walking in life-affirming prose

Radiant, soaring, heartstring-tugging

A remarkable account of the healing power of landscape and the resilience of the human spirit. I felt the rain on my face and heard the waves pounding on the sand.

Inspirational

The Salt Path pummelled me like Atlantic winds. It carried me along on a rain-soaked, sun-burnt, despair-infused, hope-driven walk. The writing is at times raw, poetic, funny, shocking. It is consistently honest, vulnerable, clear. I finished the book reminded of the importance of really hearing people's stories, of the healing power of the natural world, and of our individual and collective now.

A thoughtful, lyrical story of homelessness, strength and endurance

A moving true story

By turns inspirational and horrifying . . . [Winn] writes with a detail and a joy that tugs at the reader, lifting this beyond a mere travel memoir and all the privations and hardship to be something truly meaningful

Beautiful, sad, erudite and uplifting

An uplifting tale

Vivid . . .This is a book essentially about hope, but also about sheer gritty determination not to give in, to survive extreme discomfort, danger and sometimes disillusionment

An inspirational true story

It's a heart-warming, heart-wrenching story, told by Raynor in vivid yet plain prose. There are so many wonderful passages

Raynor's writing is beautiful. It's a heart-wrenching read at times, but you won't be able to put it down

We walk with Ray and Moth every step of the way, sharing the hunger, exhaustion, blazing heat and freezing rain in an account that is both lyrical and inspirational

An extraordinary memoir - moving, funny and uplifting

An inspirational and lyrically observed memoir on the regenerative power of walking in nature, as well as a reminder that material things are much less important than we sometimes think. If you love the landscape of the British coastline and are drawn to the philosophies of mindfulness and minimalism, this is a moving and reflective book to read during a break from your everyday life

Raynor Winn's glorious memoir tells the real-life story of her hike along the South West Coast Path, which she embarked upon with her husband after they lost their home. It's raw yet uplifting - and guaranteed to inspire your next adventure

A thoughtful reflection on ageing and infirmity, home and homelessness, hope and survival

A life-affirming story that examines grief and the power of nature

Poignant . . . It's far from a book without hope, and you'll be with Raynor and Moth every step of their walk along the South West Coast Path

A heart-wrenching, inspiring tale of one couple's enduring love for each other in the face of calamity and of their accidental odyssey along England's South West Coast Path

A love story of resilience and optimism, brimming with heart and humanity

A gripping domestic disaster story turned celebration of survival

A true story of hope in a dire situation