Caroline Jackson
The Oldest Road?
The A303: Highway to the Sun
By Tom Fort
Simon & Schuster 344pp £14.99
Tom Fort’s latest book begins with the premise that holidays, while supposedly among our most cherished memories, are often eclipsed by the journeys involved in getting to our destinations, in Fort’s experience this being westwards down the A303. Proprietorially, I rarely use its prefatory ‘A’ because, to me, it’s simply my road. An army child, specifically a Gunner baby, I was born in Aldershot at the eastern extremity of the road, and Fort’s peregrinations mirror and recall vital stages of my life: toddlerhood in Camberley (my father at Staff College), quarters at Bulford Camp, school in Salisbury, a first job waitressing in a Thruxton pub, hair-raising driving lessons on the titular road, independence and, latterly, marriage in a sandstone church in south Somerset – all within a roar of the A303. To my delight, therefore, this is my story, the surprise and joy being that it contains so much I didn’t know. The A303 was always going to work for me but I’d be surprised if, after reading it, you aren’t searching for the car keys.
The A303 is more than a road. It’s a route knotted together for escapees from the capital, evolved piecemeal from the ancient paths, turnpikes and roads that came before. Fort is an engaging guide, by turns walking, cycling and driving, at all times pondering the past and its footprint on
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm