The North Road

The highly anticipated major new work from the acclaimed author of Common Ground

LONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 2025

'A dazzlingly inventive work of literature' Robert Macfarlane, author of The Old Ways

'A wonderful, epic braiding of history, geography and personal memoir' James Rebanks, author of English Pastoral

At the heart of this book is a highway. The A1; The Great North Road. A 400-mile multiplicity of ancient trackway, Roman road, pilgrim path, coach route, and motorway that has run like a backbone through Britain for the last 2,000 years.

In this genre-defying and profoundly personal book, Cowen follows this ghost road from beginning to end on a journey through history, place, people, and time. Weaving his own histories and memories with the layered landscapes he moves through, this is the story of an age, of coming to terms with time past and time passing, and the roads that lead us to where we find ourselves.

Written in kaleidoscopic prose, The North Road is an unforgettable exploration of Britain's great highway.

'Stunning and utterly unique. The North Road sits in a genre of one' Benjamin Myers, author of The Gallows Pole

'A dazzling, dogged, layered account of one road's passage through place, time and an ordinary family's history, The North Road truly is a trip' Melissa Harrison, author of All Among The Barley

'Thought-provoking and beautiful' Matt Gaw, author of Under The Stars

'A beautifully woven and mesmerising book' Tom Bullough, author of Sarn Helen

'Sweeping, sensitive and enduring' Tristan Gooley, author of How To Read A Tree

'Rob has given the A1 an entirely new sense of life' Luke Turner, author of Out Of The Woods