Historian and educator Anthony Seldon has made a very special pilgrimage, a 1000 kilometre walk from the Swiss-French border to the English Channel along the Western Front of the 1914-1918 war.

The book that he wrote based on the journey, The Path to Peace – Walking the Western Front Way, is the subject of his talk at the Guernsey Literary Festival at St James at 12 noon on Sunday 14 May.

It was also a journey that came at a crossroads in his own life. Sir Anthony, who was recently appointed interim head of Epsom College after the tragic death of its previous Head, found himself at the time without a permanent home, without a wife or job and no clear sense of where his life was going.

He had been intrigued and inspired by a young World War I British soldier, Alexander Gillespie, who dreamed of creating a long walk, a ‘Via Sacra’ to honour those who fell in that terrible war.

Gillespie’s vision was forgotten when, tragically, he was killed in action, but a chance discovery galvanised Anthony into seeing the Via Sacra permanently established.

His book Path to Peace, and his talk, which is sponsored by Walkers, touches on grief, loss and the legacy of war.

Matt Sanders, Managing Partner of Walkers in Guernsey, says , ‘The Guernsey Literary Festival is an excellent event that really adds to the Island's cultural and community life – Walkers is very happy to be supporting the festival for the next three years, and particularly pleased to be sponsoring this talk by one of Britain's leading political historians. We look forward to the event and to hearing more from Mr Seldon about The Path of Peace.’

As well as writing 45 books, including political biographies of prime ministers from Margaret Thatcher to Theresa May, Sir Anthony has held a number of senior posts in education and he was an adviser on education to No. 10.

 Tickets for Anthony Seldon’s talk, together with details of all the festival’s events, are available from the Festival website, guernseyliteraryfestival.com. The Guernsey Literary Festival runs from 2-14 May, and this year will be running 65 events, including 17 in local schools and five community and outreach events.