Andrew Bibby walks south from Edinburgh through the Scottish borders to the Cheviots and the English border and then carries on until he reaches North Yorkshire and the river Swale. His journey is one of discovery into the distinctive landscapes of the border lands, and the author draws on themes as varied as history, natural history, folk tradition, land usage and land ownership to help him interpret what he sees.

This is a book celebrating the beauty of the border countryside by explaining why it looks the way it does. Andrew Bibby looks beneath the superficial to reveal how human interaction with the land has shaped the landscapes we know today - and how, particularly as a consequence of climate change, these landscapes are already being radically changed once again.