All the Wide Border

Wales, England and the Places Between

By: Mike Parker

Narrated by: Mike Parker

Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

A Waterstones Travel Book of the Year 2023

A funny, warm and timely meditation on identity and belonging, following the scenic route along the England–Wales border: Britain’s deepest faultline.

There is a line on the map: to one side Wales, small, rugged and stubborn; on the other England, crucible of the most expansionist culture the world has ever seen. It is a line that has been dug, debated, defined and defended for twenty centuries.

All the Wide Border is a personal journey through the places, amongst the people, and across the divides of the border between England and Wales. Taking in some of our loveliest landscapes, and our darkest secrets, this is a region of immeasurable wonder and interest. It is here that the deepest roots and thorniest paradoxes of Britishness lie. The border between the countries, even as a concept, is ragged, jagged and many-layered.

Garlanded author Mike Parker has adored and explored these places his entire life. Born in England but settled in Wales, he finds himself typical of many in being pulled in both directions. His journey is divided into three legs, corresponding with the watersheds of the three great border rivers: the Dee in the north, the Severn in the centre, the Wye in the south. Neither quite England nor Wales, the furzy borderland he uncovers — the March — is another country.

Picking apart the many notions and clichés of Englishness, Welshness and indeed Britishness, Mike Parker plays with the very idea of borders: our fascination with them, our need for them, and our response to their power. In his hands, the England–Wales frontier is revealed to be a border within us all, and it is fraying, fast.

©2023 Mike Parker (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"I loved this book. Mike Parker weaves together a great deal of wide reading, hard thinking and soulful tramping in his funny, thoughtful and evocative investigation of the Welsh–English border." (Jesse Armstrong, creator of Succession and Peep Show)

"All the Wide Border is both a beautifully written journey through the history and landscape of the border country of Wales and England and a clear-eyed analysis of its physical and psychological dividing line – the best kind of travelogue." (Richard King, author of Brittle with Relics: A History of Wales, 1962–97)

"This enthralling journey beautifully celebrates our ancient frontier land and is a present-day reminder of its’ enduring duty." (Tudur Owen, BAFTA winning comedian and presenter)

Insightful

Very insightful and enjoyable listen. Helps me understand Welsh culture and part of my heritage a bit more.