The Golden Step

‘Somerville adores Crete . . . The Golden Step is the culmination of that loveaffair. We cross the magnificent Cretan mountains at Somerville s side, meet the real Cretans and revel in village celebrations and impromptutaverna music sessions. Somerville s evocative poems are seeded throughout a text that s as readable and pacy as a novel.’
The Daily Express

‘A finely written memoir… A more absorbing book about Crete – and indeed middle-age – is unlikely to come along for a while.’
Daily Telegraph

‘By way of criticism, I have none… The Golden Step is a book which should be read by everybody who loves great travel literature.’
Stelios Jackson, The Hellenic Bookservice

The only plan the acclaimed walking journalist Christopher Somerville had for his journey across Crete was to begin in the east at Easter and nish at Whitsun in the extreme west, at the Monastery of the Golden Step.

During his 300-mile walk, Somerville tackled four mountain ranges, high slopes and the numerous gorges of the west. Following a poorly waymarked path, he had to rely on his own instincts when climbing mountain passes, crossing high plateaux, and walking through shepherding country, where villages are scarce and each night’s accommodation uncertain. He saw a Crete few ever encounter.

CHRISTOPHER SOMERVILLE is a writer, journalist and TV presenter. He was Walking Correspondent of The Daily Telegraph for 15 years. He is the author of Britain and Ireland’s Best Wild Places (Penguin), Coast (BBC Books), Somerville’s 100 Best Walks (Armchair Traveller), Never Eat Shredded Wheat: The Geography We’ve Lost and How to Find it Again (Hodder & Stoughton) and Walking in Ireland: 50 Walks Through the Heart and Soul of Ireland (Ebury).

Also by this author, Greenwood Dark and The View from the Hill.

Find Christopher on Twitter, @somerville_c