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Review
Don't be surprised if he isn't in for another award after this! (Westmorland Gazette )
The interesting content combined with Turnbull's light-hearted tone makes this an enjoyable pre-hike read. (Outdoor Photography )
The interesting content combined with Turnbull's light-hearted tone makes this an enjoyable pre-hike read. (Outdoor Photography )
Product Description
It is not as widely known as it should be that Britain has the most varied geology of any country in the world. This book is a celebration in words and pictures of what its mountains are made of, and how they got there. This in turn determines what they're like to climb, scramble on, or walk over. Why is Skiddaw slate so slippery? How do tors form? Why is gritstone so difficult? Why is Lakeland so picturesque, and the granite lands so grim and forbidding?
Geology is destiny, whether it's the rubbishy nature of gullies and screes, the sculpting of valleys by ice or the landslip weirdness of Quiraing on the Isle of Skye. British mountains contain many interesting and different ingredients: gneiss and granite and gabbro; limestone and sandstone; schist and slate; the product and the debris of tectonic shifts, volcanoes, earthquakes and glaciers over many millennia.
This book explains all this to the layman, from an expert but personal perspective, and will add immeasurably to the fun and satisfaction to be gained from any day in the hills.
Geology is destiny, whether it's the rubbishy nature of gullies and screes, the sculpting of valleys by ice or the landslip weirdness of Quiraing on the Isle of Skye. British mountains contain many interesting and different ingredients: gneiss and granite and gabbro; limestone and sandstone; schist and slate; the product and the debris of tectonic shifts, volcanoes, earthquakes and glaciers over many millennia.
This book explains all this to the layman, from an expert but personal perspective, and will add immeasurably to the fun and satisfaction to be gained from any day in the hills.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
My previous experience of Ronald Turnbull is his witty and entertaining route guides and articles in Trail and TGO. Fortunately, Granite and Grit is more of the same: witty, easy to read and very informative. The opening paragraph sums it up and gives the flavour to come: 'This is not a geology book. Well, okay, this is a geology book. But I'm not a geologist: I'm a hillwalker who likes to know what's going on under my feet.' And that's it. Technical/geological/scientific terms are used throughout the book, but are always explained. And, and this is crucial, it is NOT a dry academic text. It is witty and informative with nicely bite sized chapters.
The book covers the geology of all Britain's mountain areas making it clear that whilst Britain's geology is highly involved and complex it is within the reach of the non expert. For the first time, I've begun to grasp the difference between granite and rhyolite. A recent visit to the the Carneddau in North Wales was made hugely more exciting than normal by being able to recognise rock stratas, and beautiful pieces of milky quartz (not simply knowing that they were milky quartz but being able to understand how they formed).
When I first started reading the book I found it frustrating. Chapters would just seem to be getting going, with a nice mixture of easy science, Turnbull's own walking experiences, and good explanatory diagrams and then finish. But as I read more this approach became its greatest strength: the whole is more than the sum of its parts. It is the kind of book that you read from cover to cover first time round and then go back to, to re-read individual chapters. In this way you begin to see geology as a holistic science. If you wish it's like a jigsaw puzzle, the more pieces you fit together, the more you understand the entire picture.
And talking of pictures, the book is amply and beautifully illustrated with pictures that leave you planning trips to some of Britain's most awesomely beautiful landscapes; where, with the help of this book, that awe is increased by an understanding of the extraordinary and gigantic forces and time spans that created those landscapes.
If you like walking up,down and around mountains, and want to understand more about them, then this book is for you.
The book covers the geology of all Britain's mountain areas making it clear that whilst Britain's geology is highly involved and complex it is within the reach of the non expert. For the first time, I've begun to grasp the difference between granite and rhyolite. A recent visit to the the Carneddau in North Wales was made hugely more exciting than normal by being able to recognise rock stratas, and beautiful pieces of milky quartz (not simply knowing that they were milky quartz but being able to understand how they formed).
When I first started reading the book I found it frustrating. Chapters would just seem to be getting going, with a nice mixture of easy science, Turnbull's own walking experiences, and good explanatory diagrams and then finish. But as I read more this approach became its greatest strength: the whole is more than the sum of its parts. It is the kind of book that you read from cover to cover first time round and then go back to, to re-read individual chapters. In this way you begin to see geology as a holistic science. If you wish it's like a jigsaw puzzle, the more pieces you fit together, the more you understand the entire picture.
And talking of pictures, the book is amply and beautifully illustrated with pictures that leave you planning trips to some of Britain's most awesomely beautiful landscapes; where, with the help of this book, that awe is increased by an understanding of the extraordinary and gigantic forces and time spans that created those landscapes.
If you like walking up,down and around mountains, and want to understand more about them, then this book is for you.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
From awful punning chapter titles to some of the best mountain photography you will see, this is a book to be savoured and enjoyed. Having a passing interest in geology and being a keen hill walker, this book pushed a couple of buttons straight away but even so to find such a thoroughly superb reading experience was quite a surprise. Although this could be described as a small "coffee table" book it deserves much more than that and should be beside a bedside or fireplace for dipping into at your leisure, or indeed reading from cover to cover and then returning when required.
I love this book
I love this book
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
There is definitely a space on the shelf for a simple book about geology for those that go to or are interested in the hills of Britain. Despite the awards that this book has won and the accolades it has received, this doesn't fill that space on my bookshelf.
Now, it may be me; it probably is. I can't fault the intention behind the book or the effort that's gone into it. There are a wealth of photos and line drawings to illustrate text that is written in an easy style, and by someone who has obviously been to many of the places that the UK hillwalker will either have visited or have on their 'to-do' list. But turn to the Acknowledgements - I know, not many do, but bear with me - and you'll see that parts of the book have been published before as magazine articles; chapters 'adapted from' articles is how it is phrased, so no doubt it isn't word for word. And this shows; chapters seven and eleven are of this nature. The first is more anecdote than information, which might be fine for a magazine but doesn't sit right here, and the second shouldn't be a stand-alone chapter at all but included in chapter nine.
And then there are the pictures. Not the line drawings, which are clear and easy to digest, but the illustrations. Many are excellent; many seem to have been blown up beyond the limit at which they were, presumably, scanned from slide or print and have a fuzzy out-of-focus appearance which isn't really acceptable in a picture-rich book of this nature.
Now, I'm not laying the blame for all of this at the door of the author, far from it. The book could have done with the services of a proof-reader, picture editor and editor-in-chief; or perhaps I, in my ignorance and an age of digital publishing, am naive in my expectations. But without them, this is a gem whose flaws outweigh its beauty; many a good walk spoiled.
It's not that you'll get nothing from this book. I hope you join the chorus of approvals and learn lots, enrich your understanding and each and every trip to the hills. But for me, it wasn't the book I was hoping it might be, or that it might have been.
Now, it may be me; it probably is. I can't fault the intention behind the book or the effort that's gone into it. There are a wealth of photos and line drawings to illustrate text that is written in an easy style, and by someone who has obviously been to many of the places that the UK hillwalker will either have visited or have on their 'to-do' list. But turn to the Acknowledgements - I know, not many do, but bear with me - and you'll see that parts of the book have been published before as magazine articles; chapters 'adapted from' articles is how it is phrased, so no doubt it isn't word for word. And this shows; chapters seven and eleven are of this nature. The first is more anecdote than information, which might be fine for a magazine but doesn't sit right here, and the second shouldn't be a stand-alone chapter at all but included in chapter nine.
And then there are the pictures. Not the line drawings, which are clear and easy to digest, but the illustrations. Many are excellent; many seem to have been blown up beyond the limit at which they were, presumably, scanned from slide or print and have a fuzzy out-of-focus appearance which isn't really acceptable in a picture-rich book of this nature.
Now, I'm not laying the blame for all of this at the door of the author, far from it. The book could have done with the services of a proof-reader, picture editor and editor-in-chief; or perhaps I, in my ignorance and an age of digital publishing, am naive in my expectations. But without them, this is a gem whose flaws outweigh its beauty; many a good walk spoiled.
It's not that you'll get nothing from this book. I hope you join the chorus of approvals and learn lots, enrich your understanding and each and every trip to the hills. But for me, it wasn't the book I was hoping it might be, or that it might have been.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good Book but.....
Combining my favourite interests of Hillwalking and Geology I was realy looking forward to reading this book. Read more
Published 6 months ago by logie1958
Quirky and Informative
I really liked this book. Turnbull's style is chatty and witty but at the same time very informative. He obviously knows his stuff but does not talk down to the reader. Read more
Published 10 months ago by a_reader_ writes
Granite and Grit
A first class book for anyone who is interested in what they are walking upon when they are in the hills. I would recommend this book.
Published 16 months ago by Mr. Kevin Read
Super Book
I bought this because I had an Amazon voucher and couldn't decide what to get with it. I have always been interested in geology and mountain walking and this book seemed to... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Peter Bradbury
Granite and grit
I bought this for my son who enjoys rock climbing and walking in Lancashire and Yorkshire, particularly. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Derbyshire lass
Brilliant but not hardcover
Brilliant book for walkers and climbers thoroughly recommended. Just one snag it's a paperback not hardcover as described in the listing.
Published 18 months ago by Lin
Super Book!
A superb book that provides a great insight into the geology of Britain's mountain areas. Granite and Grit may initially seem a little technical for the average lay person though... Read more
Published 19 months ago by C. H. Riding
Geology for all who enjoy the great outdoors
Quite in depth but easy to understand; this book makes excellent reading for anyone who enjoys the great outdoors as it opens your eyes to your surroundings.
Published on 7 Jan 2010 by Roy Taylor
I'm a geek for liking this?
A really interesting book that makes you want to go out and walk those hills to find the features Turnbull rhapsodises about. Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2009 by PJW Griffin
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