Walks Through History - Birmingham

Industry and transport: a walk along Birmingham’s canals is one of twelve walks from John Wilks’ Walks Through History: Birmingham.


Walks Through History: Birmingham contains twelve walks within the city. Each walk is circular, with clear concise directions supported by easy-to-use sketch maps, illustrated by a host of photographs. Each walk covers a specific period in the history of Birmingham, and goes past historic buildings and other sites from that period. The history of the sites seen is given in a highly readable and informative style that brings the past alive, and is so written that the book can be read as a history book alone, independent of the walking. 


Together the twelve walks cover all the major themes in Birmingham’s history, and if read chronologically they lead the reader from Birmingham’s humble beginnings in saxon times to its position as wrokshop of the world. Birmingham has a compact city centre, and six of the walks are around the centre. The other six are in the suburbs, each starting from a railway station within easy reach of the city centre. 


The author, who was born in Birmingham, is both a keen historian and an enthusiastic walker, and has worked as a professional tour guide. He is secretary of his local branch of the Historical Society, and to date has written ten walking books, each with an historic theme. For this book, he returns to his native Birmingham.