The Grand Union Canal was built in the 18th/19th centuries to join the heart of industrial Britain to London. It passes through 200 years of industrial heritage and, ironically, some of the most rural parts of the country. For many people there is a strange facination about walking alongside water, and this route provides 147 miles of such walking along the full length of the Grand Union canal, with its unending changes of scenery full of facination and interest.

Each of the 13 sections described in the guide are rich in history, architecture (old and new), in addition to the ever changing plant, bird and wildlife. The canal has become a natural habitat for rabbits, foxes, voles, numerous dragonflies and butterflies, ducks, swans, mallards, moorhen, heron and coot. Once away from London's suburbs the canal delves into lesser known parts of England rarely visited, because in the past these places were only frequented by those living and working on the canal. The book is illustrated by the author's own delightfully detailed line drawings and clear route maps.