The Granite Kingdom: A Cornish Journey

Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year Award 2024

Tim Hannigan undertakes an epic east-west journey on foot through his own homeland, from the woodlands of the Tamar Valley to the remote western region of Penwith. As he walks, he explores how the Cornwall of the popular imagination has been constructed by writers, artists and others, and how myths, projections and tropes intersect with the real Cornwall - its landscapes, histories, communities and sense of self.

A richly informative tour of one of the most popular regions of Britain, The Granite Kingdom can be read as an evocative travelogue, a celebration of Cornwall’s landscapes, a fascinating account of its history and cultural significance, and an unflinching exploration of uneasy questions about regional identity.

Tim Hannigan was born and brought up in the far west of Cornwall. After leaving school he worked as a chef for several years in busy Cornish restaurant kitchens. He escaped the catering industry via a degree in journalism and a move to Indonesia, where he taught English and worked as a journalist and guidebook writer. He is the author of several narrative history books, including A Brief History of Indonesia and the award-winning Raffles and the British Invasion of Java, as well as the critically acclaimed The Travel Writing Tribe. He’s also an academic, with a research specialism in contemporary travel literature. He divides his time between Cornwall and the west of Ireland.