Cold War, Warm Hearts

Description

Where were you in 1966? Most of Bridget’s friends, in their early twenties, were settling down with jobs and/or husbands…

She, on the other hand, was wandering the highways and byways of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia: behind the Iron Curtain. Travelling in these countries with virtually no money was not only a problem but also an opportunity: it enabled a rare and deep insight into the lives and experience of ‘ordinary’ people.

Here’s your opportunity to walk with her. In the context of the current crisis in Eastern Europe, Cold War, Warm Hearts offers a powerful insight into the lived experience which lies behind it. Recounting her tales with the freshness of a young person’s vision, she has created an appealing tale of these beautiful and troubled countries, where, most of the time, she was welcomed with open arms.

'Travel writing which is utterly authentic and restlessly curious' Max Adams, author of Unquiet Women, In the Land of Giants and The Wisdom of Trees

'This is an unparalleled account – intrepid, inspiring and as fresh as yesterday' Fiona Hall, writer and Euro MP 2004–2014

Bridget Ashton grew up in the Welsh border town of Hay-on-Wye, her family migrating to Northumberland in 1955. In 1966, she travelled alone, on foot, behind the Iron Curtain. Back home, she and her American husband raised four children and campaigned against nuclear power stations. Cold War, Warm Hearts is the second of her memoirs, following Hay Before the Bookshops or The Beeman’s Family.