Few historians have written about walking, despite its obvious centrality to the human condition. Walking Histories, 1800-1914 adopts a global perspective, including contributions from specialists in the history and culture of Great Britain, North America, Australia, Russia, East-Central Europe, and South Asia.

Introduction: Modern Walks; Chad Bryant, Arthur Burns and Paul Readman.- PART I: WALKING, SPACE, AND BOUNDARIES.- 1. Walking the Boundaries between Modernity and Tradition; Robert Gray.- 2. Strolling the Romantic City; Chad Bryant.- 3. Rites of Passage; Simon Sleight.- PART II: THE OPTICS OF WALKING.- 4. Walking as Labour in Henry Mayhew’s London; Elizabeth Coggin Womack.- 5. ‘Efficiency on Foot’? The Well-Run Estate of Nineteenth-Century Britain; Julie Hipperson.- PART III: WEEKEND WALKING, OR NOT.- 6. Accidents Will Happen; Arthur Burns.- 7. ‘A Good Walk Spoiled?’ Golfers and the Experience of Landscape during the Late Nineteenth Century; Clare V. J. Griffiths.- 8. Urban Space and Travel on the Jewish Sabbath in the Nineteenth Century; Barry Stiefel.- PART IV: WALKING, CONTEMPLATION, AND THE SELF.- 9. The Saints Who Walk; Iqbal Sevea.- 10. Walking in Andrei Bely’s Petersburg; Angeliki Sioli.- 11. Walking and Environmentalism in the Career of James Bryce; Paul Readman.- 

“What is striking and perhaps novel here is the range of perspectives that the authors collectively bring to the subject. … Here are a series of highly intelligent and rigorously researched essays whose variety allows us to look beyond the classic ‘Romantic walker’ and urban flaneur … and is surely now a must-read for anyone interested in the history of walking.” (Peter Borsay, Social History, Vol. 42 (3), July, 2017)“This collection has a truly global reach. .. no one could read this rich and resonant collection without learning something … .” (William Whyte, English Historical Review EHR, Vol. 132 (556), June, 2017)

“Striking into new territory, Walking Histories demonstrates walking's foundational participation in modernity. Eleven essays range through Britain, Europe and Asia, opening fresh perspectives on the richly-varied, potentially contradictory meanings of walking as conservative tradition and radical resistance, as return to nature and commercial opportunity, as sport and act of piety.” (Anne D. Wallace, UNC Greensboro, US)

"Striking into new territory, Walking Histories demonstrates walking's foundational participation in modernity. Eleven essays range through Britain, Europe and Asia, opening fresh perspectives on the richly-varied, potentially contradictory meanings of walking as conservative tradition and radical resistance, as return to nature and commercial opportunity, as sport and act of piety." (Anne D. Wallace, UNC Greensboro, US)