from One Inch Above the Thames

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A Book Full of Surprises

"It’s been a lifelong pursuit of mine, this effort to pin down the quality that sets the English people apart. The logical place to carry out this search for the soul of England, it seems to me, is the Thames valley, the heart of England where the river first tied together early settlements into the rudiments of a civilization."   - Payne

American adventurer Jim Payne lures readers into his kayak voyage, which turns out to be so much more. While paddling England’s historic Thames River from its rural headwaters to the metropolis of London, curiosity gets the better of him. Soon he’s poking into castles, sleeping in ruined cathedrals, facing down Henry VIII, and making friends who take him home and tell him what the English really think. The result is a personal discovery of England’s people, history, culture, customs, and even its amusing quirks.