Richard Holmes's great work of biographical exploration, published alongside its
sister volume 'Sidetracks'. In 1985, Richard Holmes published a small book of e
ssays called Footsteps and the writing of biography was changed forever. A darin
g mix of travel, biographical sleuthing and personal memoir, it broke all the co
nventions of the genre and remains ons of the most intoxicating, magical works o
f modern literary exploration ever published.