Along the Borders: In search of what divides and unites us

This is a book about how our borders and boundaries are bridged, and how they bring us together.

‘Thoroughly entertaining … Along The Borders shows us the borders of the British Isles with all their frustrations, idiosyncrasies and downright stupidities’
Alan Cleaver, author of The Postal Paths

‘Collett has travelled widely across the UK, talked to numerous people, and he’s an engaging writer and excellent listener. It’s precisely because his book provokes such questions and debates as you read it that it’s so timely and interesting.’
Daily Mail

Nationalities are often strongest on the border, where people define themselves in opposition to their neighbours. Flags fly, dialects become stronger, and the distance between ‘us’ and ‘them’ grows. But borderlands are also the spaces in between, where centuries of history and culture merge and collide to create complex and shifting identities.

Along the Borders chronicles Richard Collett’s multi-year journey, by bus, boat, train, plane, car and on foot, through hundreds of miles of borderlands. But this is not just a book about the United Kingdom’s borders and boundaries: it’s about the people that live there. Collett speaks to a vivid cast of characters, from nationalists to town criers, from pub landlords to battle reenactors, and charity workers helping refugees on a search for national and personal identity in an increasingly fragmented United Kingdom.

By looking to the borderlands, we can discover the essence of what Britain is and what it isn’t. What it has been and what it can be.


‘An absorbing journey across the fractured frontiers of the United Kingdom, Along the Borders is packed with intriguing details, revealing insights and flashes of hope’
Shafik Meghji, author of Small Earthquakes

‘A must read for anyone interested in British culture, politics and identity’
Daniel Stables, author of Fiesta