One Hundred & One Beautiful Towns in Great Britain

A sequel to the highly successful One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in Italy and One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in France, this book is a unique photographic tour of the most beautiful towns in every region of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. The towns of Britain’s countryside are among the most charming and unchanged in Europe’s history. Readers will want to roam the countryside: from the Norman castle towns of the southeast to the spectacular Roman architecture of Bath and St. Albans, and from Celtic cottage farms in the Scottish lowlands to the stone and iron towns of the Welsh borders and the north, One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in Great Britain is as much about the history of the Isles as it is about their beauty today.

Tom Aiken’s eloquent and informative text not only draws attention to aesthetic, natural, and architectural points of interest in every region, but also brings to life the history of each place, from Shakespeare’s Stratford-on-Avon to the royal Cowes, the monastic abbeys of Yorkshire to prehistoric Ireland, and from the Pagan past of the Scottish Highlands to the legends of Roman Britain. A thorough appendix provides travel tips and details and locations for hotels, restaurants, and shops of interest in all the towns. Whether you’re an armchair traveller or an Anglo-phile planning yet another trip, this volume is the guide to the varied heritage and hidden treasures of Britain.

About the Author

Tom Aiken is a writer, poet, editor, theatre director, musician, and critic. A cultural historian of Britain and Europe, he is a past winner of the Lincoln Memorial Essay award, author of two young adult novels, and has contributed to the Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, and The Spectator.