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Where the Wild Winds Are

On sale

7th September 2017

Price: £16.99

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Selected: Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9781857886566

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

A Financial Times Book of the Year
A Spectator Book of the Year
A Daily Telegraph Book of the Year

‘Travel writing in excelsisJan Morris, author of Venice
‘A thrilling and gorgeous tale, packed with meteorological wonder’ -Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun

Nick Hunt sets off on an unlikely quest: to follow four of Europe’s winds across the continent…

His wind-walks begin on Cross Fell, the highest point of the Pennines, as he chases the roaring Helmthe only named wind in Britain. In southern Europe he follows the Bora a bitter northerly that blows from Trieste through Slovenia and down the Croatian coast. His hunt for the ‘snow-eating’ Foehn becomes a meandering journey of exhilaration and despair through the Alpine valleys of Switzerland, and his final walk traces an ancient pilgrims’ path in the south of France on the trail of the Mistral – the ‘wind of madness’ which animated and tormented Vincent Van Gogh.

These are journeys into wild wind, but also into wild landscapes and the people who inhabit them – a cast of meteorologists, storm chasers, mountain men, eccentric wind enthusiasts, sailors and shepherds. Soon Nick finds himself borne along by the very forces he is pursuing, through rain, blizzards, howling gales, and back through time itself. For, where the wild winds are, there are also myths and legends, history and hearsay, science and superstition – and occasionally remote mountain cabins packed with pickles, cured meats and homemade alcohol.

Where the Wild Winds Are is a beautiful, unconventional travelogue that makes the invisible visible.

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Reviews

Tristan Gooley, author of 'The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs'
A wonderful book; reading it is like being introduced to a gang of complex characters by an entertaining and erudite host. It has been a joy getting to know them better and in all their moods.
Amy Liptrot, author of 'The Outrun'
A thrilling and gorgeous tale, packed with meteorological wonder.
Jan Morris, Literary Review
Where the Wild Winds Are is full to the brim with learning, entertainment, description, scientific fact and conjectural fiction. It is travel writing in excelsis.
Michael Kerr, Daily Telegraph
An exuberant, invigorating blast of a book . . . With his debut, even while walking in Patrick Leigh Fermor's shadow, Hunt was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year award. This time, he might blow the judges away.
Spectator - Books of the Year
Hunt's contribution to travel writing has at its epicentre not places at all but winds - five European zephyrs, whose characteristics, styles, legends, beauties and varied awfulnesses he exploits to compelling and entertaining effect.
Financial Times - Books of the Year
A quest both quixotic and entertainingly escapist.
The Times Literary Supplement
There are poignant moments of calm amid the tumult, insights that capture the joy of walking alone.
Jan Morris, Literary Review
Where the Wild Winds Are is full to the brim with learning, entertainment, description, scientific fact and conjectural fiction. It is travel writing in excelsis.
Amy Liptrot, author of 'The Outrun'
A thrilling and gorgeous tale, packed with meteorological wonder.
Financial Times - Books of the Year
A quest both quixotic and entertainingly escapist.
The Times Literary Supplement
There are poignant moments of calm amid the tumult, insights that capture the joy of walking alone.
Michael Kerr, Daily Telegraph - Books of the Year
An exuberant, invigorating blast of a book.
Tristan Gooley, author of 'The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs'
A wonderful book; reading it is like being introduced to a gang of complex characters by an entertaining and erudite host. It has been a joy getting to know them better and in all their moods.
Seán Williams, Radio 3, Free Thinking
Where the Wild Winds Are blew me away.
New European
An ingenious idea that [Hunt] carries off with panache and aplomb. An extremely gifted writer . . . his writing here has agreeable echoes of Leigh Fermor's evocative prose.
John Sandoe Books - Book of the Month
A pleasure from start to finish.
Paul Kingsnorth, author of 'The Wake'
Nick Hunt's writing is powerful, playful, searching and often strikingly original. As he walks through the world, his journeys always reveal more than they set out to find.
Bath Life
An irresistable book that combines travel adventure with cultural history, meteorology and storytelling.