Description

‘One simply cannot do justice to Kathryn Hurlock’s vivid and remarkably wide-ranging page-turner’ Country Life

This year, as they have for millennia, many people around the world will set out on pilgrimages. But these are not only journeys of personal and spiritual devotion – they are also political acts, affirmations of identity and engagements with deep-rooted historical narratives.

Kathryn Hurlock follows the trail of pilgrimage through nineteen sacred sites – from the temples of Jerusalem to the banks of the Ganges, by way of Iona, Lourdes, Amritsar and Buenos Aires – revealing the many ways in which this ancient practice has shaped our religions and our world. Pilgrimages have transformed the fates of cities, anointed dynasties, provided guidance in hard times and driven progress in good. Filled with fascinating insights, Holy Places unveils the complex histories and contemporary endurance of one of our most fundamental human urges.

Publisher Review

One simply cannot do justice to Kathryn Hurlock’s vivid and remarkably wide-ranging page-turner * Country Life * An account of the huge variety of human practice and belief over millennia * New Statesman * Densely written, thoughtful, and covers a vast topic with efficiency and insight. It will make you look again at the act of pilgrimage * Church Times * Hurlock leads her readers to, into and through 19 international pilgrimage sites spread across the world … she writes engagingly, and with occasional, endearing impatience * Catholic Herald * Hurlock situates [ritual] in [a] broader context, and by narrating the history of nineteen shrines – from a range of religions and countries – she shows how ‘the activity of pilgrimage [has] shaped society, culture and politics from the ancient world to the present day’ — Guy Stagg * Times Literary Supplement * Often thought-provoking … [Hurlock] offers well-turned historical accounts of each place, picking out its distinctive features, rituals and traditions * BBC History Magazine * An enjoyable and insightful romp through the history and geography of pilgrimage. Holy Places will make you question exactly what it is to be a pilgrim — Annabel Streets, author * The Walking Cure * Here’s a book to stick in your backpack. Kathryn Hurlock takes us on a journey to 19 sacred sites around the world. Along the way she asks what are we looking for and what do we find when we get there ? * The Herald * A timely, wide-ranging and well-researched book that expanded my understanding of pilgrimage — Tristan Gooley, author * How To Read A Tree * A breathtaking journey through the history of pilgrimage, offering a vivid exploration of how sacred sites have shaped societies, cultures, and political landscapes across the globe. A truly essential work for understanding the intersection of faith, history, and the human spirit — Reza Aslan, author * No God But God * A delightful and compelling history interprets pilgrimage as an activity in which the secular and the sacred are inextricably entwined * Engelsberg Ideas * In Holy Places, Kathryn Hurlock luminously sets pilgrimage in a global context, describing nineteen pilgrimage centres in every continent, and explaining the universal attraction of journeying from one’s everyday setting to a distant and numinous place — John Barton, author * A History of the Bible: A Book and Its Faiths * Wonderful. Full of fascinating facts and insights about these extraordinary routes. And if you’re a pilgrim yourself, even if only at heart, it’ll get you dreaming about reaching for those boots and going for a long special walk — Victoria Finlay, author * Fabric * An ambitious, wide-ranging and fascinating account of some of the greatest pilgrimage sites. What emerges is the incredible variety of this constantly evolving phenomenon. Pilgrimage might be imagined to be fading away in our secular age, but the opposite is true — Michael Wood, author of In Search of the Dark Ages Fascinating and timely — Matthew Lyons * Broken Compass *