The Way Beneath Your Feet: A Pilgrim’s Journey Into the Geological Past Along the Camino de Santiago

by Paul Fee
Self-published, 2025
91 pages

Reviewed by Jerald Stroebele | Anchorage, AK

There is a large and growing body of literature about the many Caminos de Santiago and about medieval pilgrimages. There are professionally published and frequently updated guidebooks, scholarly researched histories, camino memoirs (many self-published), coffee table photo collections, and even Camino-centered novels and coloring books. With just a few exceptions, all are informative, useful, and a delight to read. Some are so good they are revered as “Camino classics.” Paul Fee’s small contribution to Camino literature—measuring just 8 ⅜ inches wide, 5 ⅞ inches tall, and ¼ inch thick—may soon be considered among those classics. Evidently self-published, don’t be fooled. It is masterfully professional, brilliantly illustrated, and beautifully written. It is a scientific text easily understood by the rest of us.  

Fee is a retired Australian history teacher. An obviously well-trained geologist, he must also be a practiced writer. Fee walked the Camino Francés several times before deciding to share his knowledge, curiosity, and love of geology with his fellow pilgrims. In 2023, he opted to bike rather than walk the Camino Francés so that he could divert many kilometers off the path in search of quarries and other sources of the types of rocks found along the pilgrim path and used in the construction of many of the churches, cathedrals, castles, and bridges along the Way.

I didn’t sleep through Geology 101 in college, but I learned more about geology in general from this book than I did in that semester-long course I took back in the days before plate tectonics theory was taught. Fee begins with a brief account of what happened near the surface of our planet in various geologic time periods, and offers readers a preview of what they might see as they walk the Camino Francés from St. Jean Pied de Port all the way to Santiago de Compostela. Richly illustrated with photos, easy-to-understand drawings, and maps by the Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (reprinted with permission), this little book is a pleasure to read and to learn from. 

As small and light as this book is, I still wouldn’t want to carry it on my upcoming Camino, and if an e-book version exists, I couldn’t find it. (Perhaps I’ll resort to pulling out and carrying only the pages that correspond to the stages I’ll walk.) You also won’t find this book through most popular online booksellers, though I did manage to locate it on the storefront at Ivar’s Camino Forum. I found the postage to have it shipped to me in Alaska from Spain to be surprisingly reasonable and totally worth it.

Got a book or film to review? Let La Concha know!
Have you published a Camino- or pilgrimage-related book that La Concha has not yet reviewed? Did you produce a film on the subject that you want fellow pilgrims to know about? If you are an American Pilgrims member, drop an email to laconcha@americanpilgrims.org with the title and a brief synopsis of your creative work, and we will connect you with one of our reviewers for consideration. You can check your membership status here, or learn more about becoming a member here.