This is a delightful insight into past and present-day Asturias, the Spanish region closest to Britain but well off the beaten track. Hugh Thomas shows a knowledge and affection built up over many years' acquaintance with the area. The book is arranged as a series of informal letters which describe journeys through the region, with frequent digressions into history, taking in the people and places which make it so individual, eccentric and appealing. The book evokes a rich sense of place by describing what there is to see in this part of Spain today, and reconstructing a vivid impression of what has happened there over the centuries. Hugh Thomas shows the presence of the past everywhere the reader is taken. Alongside the new roads and expanding towns of modern Spain, a strong sense is given of the succeeding generations of people who have made their lives in the region, and shaped the culture, buildings and landscape. This is both a beautifully-written introduction and homage to the region of Spain which could be thought of as the most British; because of its landscape, ranging from dramatic and hilly to green and gentle down to the sea: but in the details of life and history the place emerges as being fascinatingly different. Is it necessary to go there when a place is described so well? This is perfect armchair traveller's history that may well inspire real travels and letters home.