Part adventure story, part cultural history, this “enjoyably offbeat travelogue” explores the phenomenon of the spiritual pilgrimage (Booklist). Driven by curiosity, wanderlust, and health crises, David Downie and his wife set out from Paris to walk across France to the Pyrenees. Starting on the Rue Saint-Jacques, then trekking 750 miles south to Roncesvalles, Spain, their eccentric route takes 72 days on Roman roads and pilgrimage paths—a 1,100-year-old network of trails leading to the sanctuary of Saint James the Greater. It is best known as El Camino de Santiago de Compostela—“The Way” for short. The object of any pilgrimage is an inward journey manifested in a long, reflective walk. For Downie, the inward journey met the outer one: a combination of self-discovery and physical regeneration. More than 200,000 pilgrims take the highly commercialized Spanish route annually, but few cross France. Downie had a goal: to go from Paris to the Pyrenees on age-old trails, making the pilgrimage in his own maverick way.

Most of the 170 species of grasshoppers and crickets included in this book can be identified instantly by their songs – and often more reliably than from their appearance. Orthopterans have recently become important subjects in evolutionary biological studies and are also increasingly used in the field of conservation as indicators of undisturbed habitat. The book comprises the following chapters: Introduction; Acoustic Methods; Sound Production and Reception of European Orthoptera; The Nature and Function of the Songs; The Value of the Songs in Taxonomy and Identification; Key to the singing Orthoptera of Western Europe, based primarily on their Songs; and other Animal Sounds that could be confused with Orthoptera Songs – illustrated with over 1600 oscillograms; three Appendixes (Check-list of the species included; Summary of Nomenclatural Changes; Data for the Song Recordings); Glossary; References; Index to Vernacular Names; and General Index.