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Higher Calling
Higher Calling
Apr 20, 2025 11:06 AM

Author:Max Leonard

Higher Calling

Why do road cyclists go to the mountains? Many books tell you where the mountains are, or how long and how high. None of them ask ‘Why?’

After all, cycling up a mountain is hard – so hard that, to many non-cyclists, it can seem absurd. But, for some, climbing a mountain gracefully (and beating your competitors up the slope) represents the pinnacle of cycling achievement. The mountains are where legends are forged and cycling’s greats make their names.

Why are Europe’s mountain ranges professional cycling’s Wembley Stadium or its Colosseum? Why do amateurs also make a pilgrimage to these high, remote roads and what do we see and feel when we do?

Why are the roads there in the first place?

Higher Calling explores the central place of mountains in the folklore of road cycling. Blending adventure and travel writing with the rich narrative of pro racing, Max Leonard takes the reader from the battles that created the Alpine roads to the shepherds tending their flocks on the peaks, and to a Grand Tour climax on the ‘highest road in Europe’. And he tells stories of courage and sacrifice, war and love, obsession and elephants along the way.

Reviews

From unwelcoming veterans to arseboxing and collapsing human pyramids to marching to the Hill to startled earwigs to champs, Cotter has it all covered in a very well-written and insightful read

—— Kieran Shannon , Irish Examiner

This book offers fascinating insight into the egos, dressing room divides, and bad habits which held the county back on the field. ... [It's] full of honest and witty interviews with players, coaches and officials from that revolutionary period.

—— RTÉ Culture , Darren Frehil

Fascinating

—— Kieran Cunningham , Irish Daily Star

Cotter has done some terrific interviews ... the raw, hard-nosed nature of the Dublin dressing room at the end of the 1990s jumps from the page. ... Well worth anyone's time

—— Malachy Clerkin , Irish Times, Sports Books of 2018

Her long-awaited autobiography is finally here. Dressage star, Charlotte Dujardin, offers a glimpse into the magical journey that she and Valegro went on to become one of the world’s most famous duos

—— Your Horse Magazine

Fantastic autobiography

—— Essex Rider

candid and captivating memoir… written with humour and insight, this is an inspiring tale of triumph against the odds

—— Lady magazine

A beautiful testament to the unique perspective offered by life high in the branches

—— Bruce Parry, award-winning documentary film-maker and author

[Illustrated History of Football] is the funniest football tome since Viz's Billy the Fish Football Yearbook, published 26 years earlier. [The second volue] Hall of Fame is more of the same.

—— Esquire

Squires is arguably football’s best and funniest cartoonist, treating the sport with the (lack of) seriousness it truly deserves

—— i news Football Books of the Year

David Squires is a fantastic satiric cartoonist. What I did not know is that he is equally a fantastic satiric writer

—— London Economic

Downright joyous

—— Guardian’s sport books of the year

A remarkable and redemptive journey

—— Summer Books of 2018 , Financial Times

This beautiful, meditative book should give us all a sense of our possible braveries: offering us an answer to the "what if?" questions - "what if we lost absolutely everything, what would we do?" . . . An extraordinary testament to love, hope and resilience.

—— Greg Wise, actor and co-author of Not That Kind of Love

A fabulous read, inspiring and life-affirming. If you're not already walking the coastal path, this book will make you want to set-off immediately. It is a hymn to the power of love, sear-air and the natural beauty of Cornwall to heal and nurture. It's an absolute joy

—— Cornwall Life

What an absolutely glorious and moving book. It deserves all its praise!

—— Vybarr Cregan-Reid, author of Footnotes and Primate Change

A triumph of love and hope and giving oneself up to the healing power of nature. Beautifully written with vivid imagery, what a heart-warming and glorious read

—— Ali Land, author of Good Me, Bad Me

You lost me a whole night's work. This is a great read.

—— Paddy Dillon

A beautiful ode to how nature can soothe and inspire hope with every step . . . this book is really special

—— Stylist

Mesmerising. It is one of the most uplifting, inspiring books that I've ever read

—— i (The paper for today)

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

—— Guardian

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

—— Kate Riordan, author of The Girl in the Photograph

Luminescent. A literary phenomenon

—— Mail on Sunday

Utterly inspirational

—— The Times

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.

—— Maggie Harcourt, author of Unconventional and The Last Summer of Us

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

—— Emma Stonex , Guardian

Radiant, soaring, heartstring-tugging

—— BBC Countryfile

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.

—— Phillipa Ashley

Inspirational

—— Good Housekeeping

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.

—— The Ecologist

A thoughtful, lyrical story of homelessness, strength and endurance

—— The Week

A moving true story

—— i Paper

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

—— Times Higher Education

Beautiful, sad, erudite and uplifting

—— The New European

An uplifting tale

—— Cornish Times

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

—— Kibworth & District Chronicle

An inspirational true story

—— Top Sante

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

—— Church Times

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

—— Mirror

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

—— Guardian, Top 10 books about walking in Britain

An extraordinary memoir - moving, funny and uplifting

—— Open Up

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

—— Gill Walker, Newham Books , Guardian

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

—— Huffington Post UK

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

—— Dr Michael Fitzpatrick , Daily Telegraph

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

—— Liz Earle Wellbeing

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

—— Country Walking

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

—— Advnture

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

—— Ruth Jones , Prima

A gripping domestic disaster story turned celebration of survival

—— Country Walking

A true story of hope in a dire situation

—— Daily Express
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