Finding Albion

Myth, Folklore and the Quest for a Hidden Britain - LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2026

Join Zakia Sewell on a journey across Britain, uncovering hidden stories, ancient rituals, and a side of the nation you've never heard before

Zakia Sewell is on a quest for another Britain. Traversing the length and breadth of our island from Somerset to Scotland, she's seeking out a different story - one that lies beyond toxic and empty national symbols.

In Finding Albion, Zakia uncovers an alternative Britain that is vividly alive today. It is found in otherworldly folk songs, ancient myths, Celtic seasonal rites and mystic stone circles that punctuate our landscape. Her journey begins as the sun rises on the spring equinox over Glastonbury Tor, where she meets neopagans reclaiming traditions from our pre-Christian past. At summer's peak at Notting Hill Carnival she hears cultural echoes that passed along the slave trade routes from the Caribbean. On All Hallow's Eve she encounters the ghosts of Empire that are still haunting the nation, and in the depths of a Cornish winter she asks if today's new folk revival could even unite our increasingly divided country?©2026 Zakia Sewell (P)2026 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Reseñas de la Crítica

I've been waiting for a book like this. (Florence Welch)

Finding Albion offers up much needed alternative national identities and stories for us to keep close and cherish. Its a timely book that helps us consider who we are and more importantly where we are going. (Jeremy Deller)

Hopeful and inspiring, Finding Albion is a vital quest for more authentic stories of Britain. At a time when issues of national identity are increasingly contested, Sewell's analysis is more urgently needed than ever, reminding us that our history and heritage are far more diverse and more inclusive than traditional accounts suggest, and offering the possibility of forging new visions that can belong to us all. (Caroline Lucas)

Essential reading for everyone with an interest in the rituals, folklore and sacred places that define the continued interest in the folk culture of these isles. Finding Albion is the book we all need in 2026, a vital quest that begins with a cuckoo's song and traverses solstices, carnivals, enclosures, the legacy of Empire, ancient megaliths, the power of community bonding rituals, and invites us to imagine (and re-imagine), a more radical, inclusive and magical way forward, while acknowledging our complex history and the ghosts of our past.

A deft untaming of British culture, showing its radical roots and diverse present. It left me enlightened and profoundly hopeful. (Katherine May, author of WINTERING)

A charming wander around the folkways of Britain and some of its former colonies.

A profoundly inspiring, ever-moving, and at times deeply uncomfortable meditation upon the lost soul of Britain. Written with magnanimous empathy, authority and extraordinary frankness, it gleams like stars splashed across a summer-solstice sky with poetic beauty. Eschewing a poisonous obsession with monarchy, empire and soul-destroying capitalism, this personal odyssey wrests - so lyrically - the true essence of Britain from the gammon to the gay, presenting a more harmonious vision of the future in the face of forever catastrophe. Wry and impassioned in equal measure, but never sanctimonious, I loved every word and lament how petty and narrow-minded it reveals most discussions of 'national identity' to be. Haunting and magnificent.

I love this brilliant quest for the true spirit of Albion, with all its mischief and magic, eccentricity and radicalism. The book's promise that we can all connect with the traditions, rituals, songs and ancient places of our troubled but wondrous land - and through honesty, openness and revelry forge a brighter future together - is truly inspiring and exhilarating. (Fiona Robertson, author of STONE LANDS: A JOURNEY OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT THROUGH BRITAIN’S ANCIENT PLACES)