Rambling Man

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING HILARIOUS NEW BOOK FROM THE NATION'S FAVOURITE COMEDIAN, BILLY CONNOLLY Being a Rambling Man was what I always wanted to be, to live the way I damn well pleased. I've met the weirdest and most wonderful people who walk the Earth, seen the most bizarre and the most fantastic sights - and I've rarely come across something I couldn't get a laugh at. I don't think I've ever had a bad trip. Well, apart from in the 1970s, but that's a whole other story . . . When Billy set out from Glasgow as a young man he never looked back. He played his banjo on boats and trains, under trees, and on top of famous monuments. He danced naked in snow, wind and fire. He slept in bus stations, under bridges and on strangers' floors. He travelled by foot, bike, ship, plane, sleigh - even piggy-backed - to get to his next destination. Billy has wandered to every corner of the earth and believes that being a Rambling Man is about more than just travelling - it's a state of mind. Rambling Men and Women are free spirits who live on their wits, are interested in people and endlessly curious about the world. They love to play music, make art or tell stories along the way but, above all, they have a longing in their heart for the open road. In his joyful new book, Billy explores this philosophy and how it has shaped him, and he shares hilarious new stories from his lifetime on the road. From riding his trike down America's famous Route 66, building an igloo on an iceberg in the Arctic, playing elephant polo (badly) in Nepal and crashing his motorbike (more than once), to eating witchetty grubs in Australia, being serenaded by a penguin in New Zealand, and swapping secrets in a traditional Sweat Lodge ritual in Canada, Rambling Man is a truly global adventure with the greatest possible travel companion.

The Yorkshire Wolds Way. A 79 mile walking route that starts near the Humber Bridge, and ends with fish and chips in sight at the Victorian seaside resort of Filey. It's a walk that takes you through a secret part of Yorkshire. One rather overshadowed by those famous Yorkshire Dales, and the North York Moors. Hidden it may be. But it's there. Not very well known. But there. So in the middle of a heatwave, two men left their respective homes, and headed to the town of Hessle, on the Humber Estuary. And they went on a walk. A walk along fields, through enchanting dales, quaint villages and so much more. Although there were quite a lot of fields. This is the important, and extremely true tale of that journey. Of the sights. Of the sounds. Of the conversations about Adrian Chiles. Of the benches. Of the questions. Like, just what is a wold, anyway? Includes a guide to planning your own walk on the Yorkshire Wolds Way National Trail.

All good journeys start somewhere. There is always a beginning. There is always the place where it all starts. The place where the journey starts may be amazing. It may be mundane. It may be glamorous. It may be dour. It may be exciting and adventurous. Or it may be besides a road a few miles away from Swindon. The Ridgeway goes for the Swindon based option to start its journey; a National Trail that follows the part of the absolutely ancient former "green" road known as The Ridge Way. The modern route is just a bit shorter the original 400 mile one. The National Trail was opened in 1973 and provides a route for walkers connecting Overton Hill in Wiltshire with Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire; an 87 mile route with ancient forts, barrows, white horses, monuments and more. Or, if you're Rambling Man, you get rural pubs playing trance music and revelations about 1980s television programme Button Moon, that shake you to the core.

A long distance walking trail around the edges of Greater London? That's not going to be very good, is it? I mean, it will all be houses and industrial estates. Burnt out cars and flytipped old kitchen units? And let's not forget the litter that will be absolutely everywhere. No, dear friend, better head out to the proper countryside, somewhere clean and shiny, and where you most definitely won't get mugged every five minutes. Andrew Bowden had truck with such naysayers. That wasn't the real London There was beauty to be find in the boundaries of the capital, of that he was utterly convinced. And so he set off to find it by walking the London Outer Orbital Path, or LOOP as most people call it. Along the way he found that London really was hiding some wonderful gems. The beauty of Scratch Wood, the joy of the Grand Union Canal, and even a field full of lavender. There was attractive parkland, fields full of crops, cracking rural pubs, and even deer wandering around a suburban housing estate. Plus a street called Bogey Lane. No, those naysayers were wrong. For on his journey, he found London to be a cracking place.

Scotland. It's beautiful. Something about the trees, the lochs and, of course, the wide range of single malt whiskys as well. Oh and there's some lovely walking up there as well. Such as the East Highland Way. It's a nice walk. It has trees, lochs and, of course, places where you can purchase from a wide range of single malt whiskys. The lure of the East Highland Way was so strong that some people just have to hoist rucksacks on their backs, and rush to the train station with a good friend to do it. And who wouldn't? Along the way, such a person will see other things too. Old bridges, lots of rivers, the remains of crofts and a hydroelectric scheme. And there will be some tales to be told at the end of it as well. Maybe at the end of it, someone who walked the trail will write some sort of book about it all. Well, stranger things have happened.

Andrew Bowden was unemployed and getting tired. Tired of looking for jobs. Tired of thinking about what to say for interviews. Tired of visiting the Job Centre to justify why they should give him some money. Tired of sitting in front of the computer all day waiting for that elusive offer of gainful employment to appear. Tired. So very tired. And that was just after three weeks of doing it. So, in-between scouring the job ads, he decided to go for a walk on the North Downs Way. When not bombarding employers with CVs, or attending interviews, he headed off on a series of day hikes, exploring the south of England, before finally arriving in Dover, about to face one of the biggest changes of his life. One even harder than trying to talk to a recruitment agent called Tim. And for those who are inspired to walk the trail themselves, there's also a guide to planning your own North Downs Way walk.

The groundbreaking biography, available for the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth in July 2012. A patriot and a political radical, Woody Guthrie captured the spirit of his times in his enduring songs. Ed Cray, the first biographer to be granted access to the Woody Guthrie Archive, has created a haunting portrait.