The Bridge Between Worlds: A Brief History of Connection

(Paperback, Main)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

In a world preoccupied by borders, bridges celebrate the possibility of connection

Dr Gavin Francis crosses bridges both actual and metaphorical on a journey through six continents, twenty countries and four decades of travel, exploring answers to questions of peace and conflict, connection and community.

From Rome's Ponte Sant'Angelo to Brooklyn, Victoria Falls to London, Singapore to Siberia, Francis's tour of bridges around the world demonstrates what the building of bridges has meant to our civilisation, how crossings can enrich our lives, and the price we pay when we tear them down.

Reviews

Gavin Francis has written an exquisite book on a human structure we usually take for granted. This is a fascinating and delightful read -- ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH
Informative, imaginative and hugely enjoyable. Who knew A bridge can take you anywhere! -- SARA WHEELER
It's rare and interesting to see bridges explored both as metaphors and as structures. The Bridge Between Worlds is a valuable reminder that the physical environment we build has immense social and cultural consequences -- SARAH MOSS
Francis writes with energy, flair and empathy: The Bridge Between Worlds opens a marvellously rich seam of inquiry, striking many urgent and timely reverberations -- MARINA WARNER
Francis is a thoughtful and engaging writer . . . there is a lightness of touch to Francis's prose that is a delight to read -- DOUG JOHNSTONE * * Big Issue * *
The Bridge Between Worlds is a delight - a memoir of restlessness. Across five decades, Gavin Francis takes us to lands known and unknown, making us wonder on the very links that bind us as beings -- JAMES CANTON
[A] meditative travelogue . . . there is elegance in Francis's book -- ERICA WAGNER * * Financial Times * *
Wonderful in the truest sense of the word. Thought-provoking and beautifully written. I'm full of admiration for his ability to seamlessly blend travelogue and memoir with a compassionate analysis of human endeavour and behaviour -- MARISA HAETZMAN
Praise for Gavin Francis: Gavin Francis is a wonderful writer - thoughtful, engaging, immensely knowledgeable and supremely human -- BILL BRYSON
Thought-provoking and elegant -- HILARY MANTEL

Author Bio

Gavin Francis is an award-winning writer and GP. He is the author of ten non-fiction books, including Island Dreams which was shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year 2020; Adventures in Human Being which was a Sunday Times bestseller and won the Saltire Scottish Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award; Empire Antarctica, which won Scottish Book of the Year in the SMIT Awards and was shortlisted for both the Ondaatje and Costa Prizes; and Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalescence, which was a Sunday Times bestseller. He has written for the Guardian, The Times, the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. His work has been translated into twenty languages. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.