Sir Anthony Seldon

In 2020, Anthony Seldon, inspired by a fallen World War I soldier who dreamed of a ‘Via Sacra’ to commemorate the war dead and stand as a marker for the triumph of peace, set out on a 1,000km walk tracing the historic route of the Western Front. But there wasn’t to be lasting peace, with the continent falling into an even more horrific war two decades later. 

In The Path of Light, Seldon walks the route from where World War I ended to Auschwitz, discovering the towns and people who resisted in the face of unbearable destruction, and ruminating on the Second World War’s legacy.

Sir Anthony Seldon is one of Britain’s leading contemporary historians, educationalists, commentators and political authors. He is the author or editor of over 35 books on contemporary history, including insider accounts on six 21st century prime ministers.