Paths and “the right to roam” seem to be a theme of the moment. April saw the publication of The Path More Travelled: The Secret History of Britain’s Footpaths by Nicholas Crane (Weidenfeld & Nicolson). Last week we had The Pathless Land: Finding a Way Across Ireland by Tim Hannigan (Head of Zeus). Next month, Camilla Cassidy, a writer based in North Yorkshire (author of Twilight Histories: Nostalgia and the Victorian Historical Novel), will bring us a history of enclosure in England. The Ground beneath Our Feet: A Path through England’s Lost Commons (Reaktion Books, £22, October 1) is, her publisher says, a journey “via resistance, rebellion, resignation and resurgence from Norman hunting forests to the deserted villages of the 18th century and forward to the stump of Sycamore Gap. Camilla Cassidy brings together the voices of lawmakers and lawbreakers, the high and mighty and the commoners, poets and artists to explore tradition, belonging and alienation in our landscape.”