People go on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage for a variety of reasons: religious, midlife crisis, a need for adventure or miracle, to visit Hemingway's 1920s hangouts, to pay homage to Saint James... Author Jean Mitchell-Lanham went for all the same reasons, and then her academic and literary interests set her off on a secondary journey to dig deeper into the mysteries and timeless draw of the pilgrimage. The result is this book: a comprehensive review-complete with academic, regional, cultural, historical, and religious facts-enhanced by one woman's real-life journey along the popular 500-mile spiritual trek. As a detailed study of a world-renowned pilgrimage site, the book is now an indispensable read before making the pilgrimage. Since the rediscovery of Liber Sancti Jacobi/Codex Calixtimts, a medieval manuscript containing the twelfth-century guidebook to the Camino, along with stories of miracles, liturgical compositions, and mythological feats, the Camino pilgrimage has resurrected interest over the past several years and has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (1987). Since that time, a plethora of new guidebooks have been published and there are over 1,800 historical sites along the Camino to command the attention of history buffs, ordinary tourists, and devout pilgrims. In 2013 alone, 215,880 pilgrims visited the site. Book jacket.