New Roots, Ancient Lands: Walking Through Herefordshire's History by Joseph Emmett follows the author, a secondary school history teacher who recently moved to the county, on a year-long journey on foot with his dog through Herefordshire's landscape and past.
Investigating the region's history from the Ice Age through the twentieth century, Emmett visits castles, churches, Roman remains, and Stone Age monuments including Arthur's Stone, Garway Hill, and Snodhill Castle, weaving these explorations together with conversations with local residents.
At its heart, the book is a meditation on what it means to become rooted in an unfamiliar place, using deep engagement with landscape and local history as a way of finding belonging and making a new home.