Towards Iraq: Austin Macauley

Putting one foot in front of the other - it's not spectacular, it's not extraordinary, but it can lead us to extraordinary ends.

These words are spoken to Hannah Denno during her 3000-mile walk across Europe, a journey where the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

In April 2015, Hannah laced up her boots, hoisted her rucksack onto her back and set out from London towards Iraq, the country her grandfather came from, seeking connection with the land of her roots. The expedition was to become as much about traversing an emotional landscape as it was the physical terrain.

Each day's tasks are unspectacular, but as she walks, she grapples with questions of national and individual identity and sees connections between her journey and the journeys made by others before her. And she never ceases to be blown away by the extraordinary kindness of strangers.

When political winds alter the course of her journey, Hannah is led to make new discoveries that take her personal pilgrimage to unexpected places.

"A cleverly balanced book, winding between European history and an individual family story."

- Ursula Martin, author of One Woman Walks Wales and
One Woman Walks Europe