Ian Crofton , formerly editor-in-chief of The Guinness Encyclopedia , has written a number of works of popular narrative history, from Great Escapes and A Curious History of Food and Drink to The Little Book of Big History and World History: 50 Events You Really Need to Know . The last two bestsellers have been translated into many languages. Crofton has also explored the interplay of landscape, history and nature in more personal books such as Walking the Border: A Journey between Scotland and England ('Excellent', The Guardian ), Fringed with Mud and Pearls: An English Island Odyssey (selected by The Telegraph as one of their top twenty travel books of 2021) and, most recently, Upland: A Journey through Time and the Hills ('A beautifully written celebration of a lifelong passion', Stephen Venables, author and mountaineer).