Welcome to the Islands Book Trust Website

MORE RECENT PUBLICATIONS

For a full list of publications see here

REFLECTIONS ON THE HISTORY OF STORNOWAY AND LEWIS

-Sandy Matheson

Retail price £6

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ICELAND AND THE HEBRIDES – MY ROOTS by Sally Magnusson

Retail Price £5

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THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF ALEXANDER CARMICHAEL

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Retail price £15.00

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STORNOWAY IN WORLD WAR TWO

- Mike Hughes

Retail Price £6.

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EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN LEWIS – THE NESS CONNECTION

Retail Price £6

THE SPORTING ESTATES OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES - PAST AND PRESENT

by David S D

Jones

Retail Price £12.99

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WHALING AND THE HEBRIDES

Retail Price £12

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LATEST PUBLICATIONS

ISLAND HEROES

The Military History of the Hebrides

Retail price £15

Almost every township throughout the Islands has its war memorial inscribed with scores of names, but how much do we really know about the role of the Hebrides and her people in wartime?

The Islands Book Trust held a three-day conference to address exactly this question. ‘Island Heroes – The Hebrides and UK Military History’ took place in the Isle of Lewis, where a range of excellent speakers discussed the disproportionate contribution and sacrifice made by islanders to UK military campaigns over at least the last 250 years and the role of the Hebrides during World War Two.

This book brings together the various contributions - looking at warfare from a uniquely island perspective.

Dualchas àraid agus prìseil
A UNIQUE AND PRECIOUS CULTURE

The Changing Face of South Uist and Eriskay
Photographs by Dr Kenneth Robertson

This unique book features a selection of the best photographs of the late Dr Kenneth Robertson, mostly previously unpublished and taken over a period from 1956 to 1981.
A first class photographer, Dr Robertson was very aware of his good fortune to be in a position to record the life of the islands at a time when they were on the cusp of great and irrevocable change. His studies of the everyday world of crofting, fishing and home life tell a much deeper story of hardship and joy, most of which is now but a memory

Memories of the Island of Scarp

In this well-illustrated booklet, Donald John Macleod brings together his own personal memories of life on the island, together with a series of anecdotes and contributions which vividly illustrate what it was like to be a resident of Scarp during the last century. It will be of absorbing interest to all who have visited this now depopulated island, or have gazed wistfully across the narrow sound of water near Husinish, Harris, to the clearly visible buildings on a green strip of land which once formed a living community.

Donald John’s inimitable style is apparent right from the start of the book: ‘I have travelled all over the world and Scarp was the happiest and friendliest place I have ever been.  It was paradise for a child on summer holiday; most days playing on the sands, in and out of boats, over to Fladday at the peats, fishing, trips to Hushinish and visiting the houses there and shearing sheep out at the fank at the back of Scarp, which was very dangerous as there is a steep chasm into the sea beside it.'

CALVINISM, LITERATURE AND THE IMAGINATION

Prof Donald Macleod

Retail Price £5

This thought-provoking booklet, based on a memorable lecture by one of Scotland’s leading thinkers about religion at an Islands Book Trust event in Summer 2009, sets out Professor Donald Macleod’s views on an important and controversial subject – the relationship between Calvinism, literature and creative writing. The caricature of rigid Presbyterianism suppressing artistic expression is well-known, but is it true and is it consistent with the  teachings of Calvin? Professor Macleod was born in Lewis and is Principal of the Free Church College in Edinburgh

SUAS GU DEAS

Two Hebrideans walking from the Butt to Barra Head

Angus Peter Campbell and Cailean Maclean

Retail Price £20

An entertaining and incisive account in Gaelic and English by prize-winning author Angus Peter Campbell of a walk with a difference – from the Butt of Lewis to Mingulay with friend and leading photographer Cailean Maclean.  Along the way, Angus Peter and Cailean meet Hebridean characters and visit old haunts in a unique and unforgettable landscape. Already televised, this is the book of the walk, a celebration of contemporary Hebridean life in all its variety and paradoxes, lit up by Cailean’s superb photographs with literary captions, and Angus Peter’s wit and insights. This beautiful book is a tribute to the remarkable and distinctive nature of island life, its history, literature, landscape, and many outstanding characters.

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DOLLY DOCTOR

Pictures of Bygone Island Life

Retail price £12

A beautifully produced selection from ‘Dolly Doctor’s unique collection of early plate-glass black and white slides, mainly taken in the 1930s, of life in Lewis and other islands in the Outer Hebrides, published here for the first time. The slides are particularly strong in their coverage of rural life such as fishing, the shielings, spinning, dying and weaving, going to the peats, crofting families and black-houses. Each picture has a full caption, and there is also an introduction about Dr Macdonald by well-known author Peter Cunningham, who knew ‘Dolly Doctor’ well, and has given many extremely popular slide-shows of ‘Dolly Doctor’s pictures over the years.

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ISLAND NOTES
Island Notes - If you missed one of our events we have introduced a series of modestly-priced Island Notes which summarise talks given at Trust events.

You can purchase copies in the Publiations section or if you prefer to order by post a price list and order form

is available here
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