Stand Here
Coordinates and a compass bearing for the exact spot each reconstruction was built from. Hold the page up there and the picture lines up with the ruin.
From the channel Arthur Revives the Past
See the cities as they were. Then stand where they stood.
A 144-page travel guide to fourteen historical cities, from Edinburgh in 1544 to Constantinople in AD 537. Every site comes with the spot to stand on, the direction to face, and the minute of the video to replay when you get there.
PDF · Secure checkout by Gumroad · The files arrive by email within a minute
144pages
14stops, in route order
43site entries
14walks with street plans
13videos linked to the minute
3,000years, one route
Why this guide exists
The ruin in front of you never looks like the video.
You have seen Rome in AD 80 on the channel. Then you go, and the stones in front of you do not match. Where was the camera? Which arch? Which minute?
Arthur’s Grand Tour answers those three questions for fourteen cities. Each site has a Stand Here point with coordinates and a compass bearing, so you face what the reconstruction faced. A QR code opens the video at the exact minute. And under every entry sits the practical part a traveller needs: how to get in, how long it takes, when to go, and how hard it is on the legs.
Nothing in it is guessed. Every quotation carries the minute it came from. Prices are given as bands, never a figure that will be wrong by spring. Where a fact could not be verified, it was left out.
What’s inside
Every site entry is built the same way, so once you have read one you can read them all at a glance.
Three layers of time
An engraving, the reconstruction and today’s photograph of the same spot, on one page, so you can see what changed and what did not.
A walk in every city
Fourteen walks with real street plans, distances and minutes between the stops. Shorten them if your legs say so.
Where to sleep and what to eat
By neighbourhood and by dish, with a price band, for every city. No restaurant that might have closed last winter.
Three ready-made routes
Ten days, three weeks or six weeks, night by night, with what to skip and how to get between stops.
The honest tables
Steps, ground and shade rated for every site, plus a line on access. You know before you go what your knees are in for.
The route
Fourteen stops, read in the order you arrive.
Five countries and three thousand years, drawn as one road. The book follows it chapter by chapter, so wherever you are, the next page is the next place.
-
1
Edinburgh
1544
-
2
Birmingham
1900
-
3
London
1300
-
4
Paris
1400
-
5
Venice
1700
-
6
Rome
AD 80
-
7
Pompeii
AD 79
-
8
Athens
430 BC
-
9
Olympia
430 BC
-
10
Knossos
1700 BC
-
11
Rhodes
280 BC
-
12
Bodrum
350 BC
-
13
Ephesus
AD 60
-
14
Istanbul
AD 537
Turn the pages
13 of the 144 pages, exactly as they print.
Free chapter
Read Rome first. No email, no catch.
The whole Rome chapter, 27 pages, exactly as it appears in the book: the reconstruction, the Colosseum and the Forum entries with their Stand Here cards, three layers of time, where to sleep and eat, and the walk with its street plan. If it does not make you want to go, keep your money.
Download the Rome chapter (PDF, 6.5 MB)
Who made it
Arthur rebuilds cities that no longer exist. Then he checks where the camera would have stood.
The channel Arthur Revives the Past reconstructs historical cities at one moment in their story: Edinburgh the week the English fleet arrived, Pompeii the morning before the eruption, Constantinople the year the dome went up. The reconstructions are made with AI tools and labelled as such; the history behind them is checked against the sources, and every quotation in this guide carries the minute of the video it came from.
The guide was written for the people who watch those videos and want to go: readers who would rather spend ten minutes on the right spot than tick off ten sites in a day.
Get the guide
One PDF, every stop.
- Arthur’s Grand Tour, the guide: 144 pages, 14 stops, 43 site entries, 14 walks
- The Field Book: 23 printable sheets, one per stop, plus bookings, budget and phrase cards
- Free updates to both files, for as long as the guide exists
- Any device: phone, tablet, computer. No DRM, no app
Less than a printed guidebook, and it does not go out of date on your shelf.
Launch price
$19.99
USD · one-time payment
Get the guideSecure checkout by Gumroad. Card, PayPal or Apple Pay. Sales tax added where it applies.
30-day refund policy
Is it for you?
Made for a particular kind of traveller.
It is for you if
- You watch history reconstructions and want to stand on the actual ground.
- You would rather spend ten minutes in the right spot than tick off ten sites in a day.
- You are planning one long trip, or several short ones, and want the route already drawn.
- You like maps, dates, and knowing who did what.
It is not for you if
- You want hotel names and exact prices. The guide gives the neighbourhood and the price band, because a closed restaurant does more harm than an old price.
- You want an encyclopedia. Each city gets what you need to understand what you are looking at, and no more.
- You prefer a tour bus and a guide with a flag. This is for walking.
Questions
Before you buy
Do I need to have watched the videos?
No. Every site entry stands on its own: history, how to get in, where to stand, where to eat. The QR codes are there for when you want to see the reconstruction move, and they open the video at the exact minute that place is described.
What exactly do I receive?
Two PDF files, sent by email from Gumroad the moment you pay: the guide (144 pages) and the Field Book (23 printable sheets). You can download them as many times as you like, and updates to both files are free.
Will it read well on my tablet or phone?
Yes. It was designed for screens, with large body text and high contrast. On a phone, turn it sideways for the maps. The Field Book is the part meant for paper: it prints at home in black and white.
Does it open on a Kindle?
It is a PDF, so it opens on most e-readers, but the maps and photographs are made for a tablet or a computer. On a small Kindle screen they will be cramped.
Are the prices and opening hours in it?
Deliberately not. Prices change by season, so the guide gives a price band and names the official website to check before you book. A wrong price does more harm than no price.
Are the pictures real?
The reconstructions were made for the channel with AI tools and are labelled as such. Today’s photographs and the historical engravings are credited on the credits page. The maps use real coastlines and real street data.
I am not a confident walker. Is it still useful?
Every site is rated for steps, ground and shade, with a line on access. The walks give distances and minutes so you can cut them short, and most of the museums in the extra entries have lifts.
Is there a printed edition?
Not yet. The Field Book is designed to print at home, and the guide reads best on a tablet, where the maps and photographs are at full size.
What if it is not what I expected?
Gumroad’s standard 30-day refund policy applies. Read the free Rome chapter first: it is the whole chapter, exactly as it appears in the book.
