LATEST PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE FROM THE ISLANDS BOOK TRUST
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BOOKS
The full range of
books published by the Islands Book Trust
is available to purchase online. |
ISLAND
NOTES
Island
Notes are summaries of talks given at events
arranged by the Book Trust (already made
available to Gold members). The new series
is produced in an attractive standard format
and is available at a modest price. |
SPECIAL PRICED BOOKS
Special Offer books at reduced prices available here. |
HISTORIC MAPS
A selection of beautiful old map reproductions covering Western Isles and Skye |
Islands
Book Trust Books
THE
FRENCH MACDONALD - JOURNEY OF A MARSHAL OF NAPOLEON
IN THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND
Retail
Price £10
This
extraordinary book provides a unique footnote
to the momentous events of Jacobite and Napoleonic
history.
In 1746
Neil MacEachen left his native South Uist for
the last time - in the company of Prince Charles
Edward Stuart and hunted by Hanoverian forces
on land and sea. Three-quarters of a century later
Neil's son, Marshal Alexandre MacDonald, Marshal
of France, created Duke of Tarentum by Napoleon,
and High Chancellor of the Order of the Legion
d'Honneur, returns to Scotland and the islands
of his ancestors and is feted as a hero by the
British establishment.
Throughout
his trip in 1825, Marshal Alexandre MacDonald
kept a diary. This fascinating document, ignored
for generations and containing some very frank
observations on people he met from Sir Walter
Scott to his MacDonald forebears in the Hebrides,
was found recently in the French National Archives
and translated from the original French by Jean-Didier
Hache. Giving an intimate account of a vanished
society and a unique insight into the fabric of
nineteenth century Scotland, this is the very
human tale of one man's search for his roots.
THE FRENCH MACDONALD
Price: £ 10.00 (paperback) |
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THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF ALEXANDER CARMICHAEL
Retail Price £15.00
The Life and Legacy of Alexander Carmichael
A ground-breaking collection of essays celebrating the life and legacy of one of the most fascinating and controversial Scots of his time, the folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912). Carmichael devoted his adult life to collecting the extraordinarily rich oral tradition of the people of his native Highlands, above all in the Outer Hebrides where he spent nearly twenty years. Much of this material was edited and published in the six volumes of Carmina Gadelica (1900–71), a magnificent treasure-trove of Gaelic charms, hymns, poems, songs, and stories which has captivated and intrigued readers worldwide ever since.
The Life and Legacy of Alexander Carmichael presents the fruits of a four-day conference held in the Island of Benbecula in July 2006 under the auspices of The Islands Book Trust. Bringing together contributions from academic and local Hebridean scholars alike, it allows us for the first time to appreciate and evaluate the astonishing range and influence of Carmichael’s work. Alexander Carmichael is famous today as the inspirer of the ‘Celtic Christianity’ movement, and the cause of one of the most bitterly fought scholarly controversies in Scotland for a generation. This collection reminds us that he was also perhaps the greatest folklore collector of his age, the editor and creator of one of the most remarkable art books of the twentieth century, a figurehead for the Scottish Celtic Revival, and a man who dedicated his life to upholding and promoting the culture, traditions, and interests of his own people.
THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF ALEXANDER CARMICHAEL
Price: £ 15.00 |
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CROSSING THE MINCH
Exploring the Links between Skye and the Outer Hebrides
On a good day, the mountains of Skye and the long chain of the Western Isles are clearly visible from each other, and their history has been interwoven over the centuries through a common Norse and Gaelic cultural heritage, land ownership links, the movement of people in both directions, and more recent economic and social pressures.
In May 2007, The Islands Book Trust held a two day conference entitled Crossing the Minch, to consider these many links, similarities and differences. Set in the magnificent surroundings of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the National Centre forGaelic Language and Culture, the contributors included Cailean Maclean, Aonghas MacCoinnich, Anne Frater, Iain Mac an Tailleir, Roger Hutchinson, and Bill Lawson.
This volume brings together the various contributions, providing essential reading for anyone with an interest in the history of these islands.
ISBN : 978-0-9555420-3-9
CROSSING THE MINCH
Price: £ 9.00 (Paperback) |
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GAME
ON LEWIS AND HARRIS - PAST AND PRESENT
by
David S D Jones
64pp
with 40 illustrations in colour and B and W, retail
price £6, ISBN 978-0-9555420-2-2.
In
this attractively illustrated booklet, David Jones
looks at the changing wildlife of Lewis and Harris
over the centuries as seen through estate and
game records. He charts the rise and fall of particular
species, often heavily influenced by the management
policies of the estates, and gives a tantalising
insight into changing attitudes and the world
of sporting estates.
By
drawing on sources not hitherto widely used, David
Jones's research, based on his impressive Western
Isles Countrysports Archive, allows a glimpse
of a different world, which will be of absorbing
interest to those fascinated by both the natural
and social history of the islands.
GAME ON LEWIS AND HARRIS
- PAST AND PRESENT
Price: £ 6.00 (paperback) |
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ST
KILDA, MYTH AND REALITY
Retail
Price £5
This
book is based on a discussion session entitled,
Writing about St Kilda: Myth and
Reality, which took place at the inaugural
Hebridean Book Festival in Stornoway in August
2006.
Millions
of people all over the world are fascinated by
St Kilda and their impressions are inevitably
based on previous writings, pictures, or the views
of others. What these images are, how they have
arisen and the influences that are at work in
building myths, are as interesting a subject as
the reality of the history of St Kilda itself
- and the two concepts are now difficult, perhaps
impossible to differentiate from each other. This
book aims to examine how far writing about St
Kilda over the centuries has built up particular
images about the island, which may or may not
reflect the reality of life there.
To
achieve this, John Randall introduces
the concept of myth-making and the main themes
evident in myths about St Kilda; Bill
Lawson looks at views of the human history
of the island and John Love considers
impressions of its natural history. In addition,
there are some notes by Lewis historian Michael
Robson.
ST. KILDA: MYTH AND REALITY
Price: £ 5.00 (paperback) |
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SPEAK
TO US CATRIONA - by DONALD S MURRAY
Retail
Price £5.
In
this new collection of haunting and memorable
poems, Donald S Murray
takes
his inspiration from 'Tales and Traditions of
the Lews', the posthumously published
work of the celebrated amateur folklorist and
historian Dr Donald Macdonald of Gisla
(Dolly Doctor). Murray 's poetry follows the same
pattern of bringing together material from many
different sources. The resulting poems celebrate
the richness of the past
and present of Lewis, focussing not only on its
complexity but also on the diverse and dramatic
lives of the island's inhabitants.
"Donald
S. Murray's poetry, with its distinctive Hebridean
accent and its universal themes, is a delight:
characters, images and ideas rise off the page
to meet you. This is a rich, humorous, profound
and moving collection that really does travel
'from Lewis to Patagonia ' and deserves to be
read as widely." James Robertson, author
of The Testament of Gideon Mack
SPEAK TO US CATRIONA
Price: £ 5.00 (paperback) |
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THE
DECLINE AND FALL OF ST KILDA
-
retail price £12.00
This
thought provoking volume is based on the very
successful conference held in Great Bernera, Lewis
in August 2005 to mark the 75th anniversary of
the evacuation of St Kilda. It examines the background
to the island's dramatic history in the context
of the struggles for survival of other remote
islands in the Western Isles, Shetland, Ireland,
and the Faroes. The authors shed new light on
the oft-told story of St Kilda's decline and fall,
and challenge the many myths which have grown
up over the centuries.
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF ST KILDA
Price: £ 12.00 (paperback) |
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BACK
TO THE WIND, FRONT TO THE SUN The Traditional Croft
House
by Caroline Hirst
Retail price Paperback £12 Hardback £21
195pp with 140 photographs
based on the collections of the late Angus Macleod
of Calbost. An authentic and evocative account
of traditional crofting housing. The house of
a crofter was much more than simply the stones
with which it was constructed. The house was the
centre of family and community life, and it is
the memory of a past way of life, involving hard
work, but also strong social bonds, and informal
friendships and entertainment, which help to explain
the deep interest of so many people in the crofting
communities in the houses of yesteryear.
BACK TO THE WIND FRONT TO THE SUN
Price: £ 12.00 (paperback) |
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BACK TO THE WIND FRONT TO THE SUN
Price: £ 21.00 (hardback) |
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TRADITIONS
OF SEA-BIRD FOWLING IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC REGION
215pp
with illustrations, retail price £12.
An attractively
produced book based on an international conference
held in Ness in September 2004, with contributions
from Ireland, Faroes, Iceland, Norway and Finland
(as well as Scotland) - putting the annual guga-hunt
in a wider context.
TRADITIONS OF SEABIRD FOWLING IN
THE NORTH ATLANTIC REGION
Price: £ 12.00 |
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THE
ANGUS MACLEOD ARCHIVE - AN INTRODUCTION TO THE
COLLECTION
56pp
with illustrations, retail price £5.
An illustrated
introduction to the remarkable life and collection
of historical material left by the late Angus
'Ease' Macleod of South Lochs, Lewis.
THE ANGUS MACLEOD ARCHIVE: AN INTRODUCTION
TO THE COLLECTION
Price: £ 5.00 |
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SPECIAL BOOK OFFERS AT REDUCED PRICES
CURIOSITIES
OF ART AND NATURE - NEW ANNOTATED AND ILLUSTRATED
EDITION OF MARTIN MARTIN'S CLASSIC BOOK
'A
Description of the Western Islands of Scotland',
first published in 1703, 318pp with many colour
photographs, special retail price £10.
This beautifully produced book contains a facsimile
of Martin's first edition, the first detailed
account of the islands written 300 years ago,
together with extensive notes and a new introduction
by Michael Robson.
CURIOSITIES OF ART AND NATURE
Special Price: £ 10.00 |
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ST
KILDA - CHURCH, VISITORS AND 'NATIVES'
758
PP with illustrations - special retail price £25.
Described
as the most thoroughly researched book ever written
on St Kilda, a detailed and dispassionate account
written by Michael Robson, of the history of the
island using hitherto unused records.
The new book, which contains over 750 pages of
text and many early photographs and illustrations,
challenges many of the myths which have arisen
in earlier writings.
For
example, Michael Robson queries popular views
about the detrimental role played by the Free
Church in the 19th century, and highlights the
part played by journalist John Sands in creating
well-known 'facts' about St Kilda such as the
St Kilda Parliament and the St Kilda mailboat.
He emphasises that our views of St Kilda come
mainly from visitors, many of whom spent little
time there, and most of whom had their own agenda
or pre-conceived ideas about life on the island.
ST. KILDA: CHURCH, VISITORS AND
NATIVES
Special Price: £ 25.00 |
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‘An Isle Called Hirte’ by Mary Harman
SPECIAL RETAIL PRICE £25
A classic and vivid overview of the history and culture of St Kilda up to the timeofthe evacuation in 1930. Includes detailed treatment of the population and families, their homes, shielings, bothies and storehouses, domestic life, pastoral and arable farming, fowling and fishing, customs and beliefs, stories and songs, religion, education and health, and communications. 338pp hardback, including many diagrams and illustrations.
Normal price £35, now available at special price of £25.
AN ISLE CALLED HIRTE
Price: £ 25.00 (Hardback) |
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‘Expeditions to the Hebrides’ by George Clayton Atkinson in 1831 and 1833
SPECAIL RETAIL PRICE £20
Edited by David Quine, this is a lavishly illustrated and beautifully produced book including extensive extracts from the journals of the naturalist George Clayton Atkinson, covering his explorations of the Western Isles and St Kilda, and his subsequent expedition to Skye, the Shiants and Lewis. An intriguing insight into both the natural and human history of these islands at a crucial stage in their transition from traditional societies to the modern world. 190pp hardback, including many colour illustrations.
Normal price £25, now available at special price of £20.
EXPEDITIONS TO THE HEBRIDES
Price: £ 20.00 (Hardback) |
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‘Travels in the Western Hebrides from 1782 to 1790’ by Rev. John Lane Buchanan
SPECIAL RETAIL PRICE £5
In 1793, the Reverend Buchanan published a searchingly full and controversial account of his time spent in Harris and other parts of the Outer Hebrides, including St Kilda, as Missionary Minister. Including many first-hand descriptions of the fauna and flora, perhaps his most interesting observations are on the people, their housing, social behaviour and customs, their talents, religious and educational prospects, and their harsh experiences in making a livelihood in an unfavourable climate and social structure. This is a new publication of the original book, with an introduction by Dr Alasdair Maclean. 109pp paperback, with illustrations.
Normal price £8.50, now available at special price of £5.
TRAVELS IN THE WESTERN HEBRIDES
Price: £ 5.00 (Paperback) |
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‘The Summer of ‘89’ by Bob Charnley
SPECIAL RETAIL PRICE £12
Following the chance discovery of a photograph album chronicling the journey of a late Victorian photographer around Scotland, Bob Charnley set out to retrace his journey and recover information about the people and places portrayed in these evocative images. The quality of the photographs stand alongside those of George Washington Wilson and D O Hill, and ‘The Summer of ‘89’ is now widely regarded as a classicVictorian record of Highland life, and of the west coast in particular.132 pp hardback, including the original photographs.
Normal price £14.95, now available at special price of £12.
THE SUMMER OF '89
Price: £ 12.00 (Hardback) |
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‘The Highland Clan MacNeacail (MacNicol)’ by David Sellar and Alasdair Maclean
SPECIAL RETAIL PRICE £10
An entirely new account of the history of one of the oldest Hebridean clans, the Nicolsons of Scorrybreac in Skye, from their origin in a remote Scandinavian past to their dispersal around the globe in modern times. This book is a remarkable synthesis of sound scholarship and living oral tradition. Historical texts, myths, traditions, story and poetry are critically examined to produce a fascinating history. 80pp hardback, including colour pictures.
Normal price £12.95, now available at special price of £10.
THE HIGHLAND CLAN MACNEACAIL (MACNICOL)
Price: £ 10.00 (Hardback) |
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‘Sgeulachd A’Choire (The Tale of the Cauldron) by J G McKay
SPECIAL RETAIL PRICE £5
This is a facsimile reprint of a classic Gaelic folk tale, first published in 1927. The story is narrated in Gaelic, with English translation, and is accompanied by a series of remarkably fine illustrations by Gordon Browne, R I. The book will be particularly valuable for young readers and Gaelic learners. 44pp hardback, including colour pictures.
Normal price £8.95, now available at special price of £5.
SGEULACHD A'CHOIRE (THE TALE OF THE CAULDRON)
Price: £ 5.00 (Hardback) |
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‘Scotland’s Forgotten Valour’ by Graham Ross
SPECIAL RETAIL PRICE £5
As the backbone of the British Army, Scots have played a significant role in every major campaign within the last three hundred years. His book contains the heroic stories of the Scottish-born soldiers who have won the Victoria Cross since it was established in 1856, covering the Crimean War and subsequent campaigns. Five of the first ten medals were awarded to Scots, and in total 158 of the 1351 VCs awarded have gone to Scottish-born soldiers. 99pp paperback, including many illustrations.
Normal price £7.95, now available at special price of £5.
SCOTLANDS FORGOTTEN VALOUR
Price: £ 5.00 (Paperback) |
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HISTORICAL MAPS
Historical Map of Skye
A beautiful full-scale reproduction of John Thomson's classic map of Skye and the adjoining islands (including the Small Isles) and west coast mainland, surveyed by William Johnstone in the 1820s and first published in 1824. This is a most informative map, with hundreds of place-names showing a pre-improvement age when Skye was heavily populated and before many of the clearances had taken place, with places such as Knoydart having a much larger population than the Mallaig area.
720mm x 530mm
Price : £5.00
HISTORICAL MAP OF SKYE
Price: £ 5.00 (Heavy Paper Print) |
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Martin Martin's Map of the Western Isles circa 1703
 A beautiful reproduction of Martin Martin's map of the Hebrides which first appeared in his classic book 'A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland' published in 1703. The map was engraved by Herman Moll and is one of the earliest maps of the Hebrides.
470mm x 380mm
Price : £7.50
MARTIN MARTIN MAP OF W. ISLES
Price: £ 7.50 (Heavy Paper Print) |
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MEMORIAL LECTURE PUBLICATIONS
THE
FUTURE OF CROFTING - THE
CASE FOR CROFTING REFORM
20
pages with photographs - Retail Price £5.00
An attractively illustrated booklet giving the text of Brian Wilson's thought-provoking lecture on 'The Future of Crofting - The Case for Crofting Tenure'. This was the 4th Angus Macleod Memorial Lecture, delivered on 25 October 2007, the fifth anniversary of Angus's death, and an important contribution to the current debate and the Shucksmith Committee Inquiry.
In his talk, Brian argues that proper regulation of the crofting system is essential to retain population and cultural continuity in remote areas, and that this is best carried out at very local level.
THE FUTURE OF CROFTING - THE CASE FOR CROFTING TENURE
Price: £ 5.00 (booklet) |
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THE
CLEARANCES IN LEWIS - TRUTH OR MYTH?
24 pp
with photographs, retail price £5.
A commemorative
booklet including the text of Bill Lawson's controversial
view questioning the Clearances in Lewis to a
packed audience in Pairc School , Gravir in October
2006 in memory of Angus Macleod.
Bill
Lawson argues that, while there were clearances
in several parts of Lewis, notably Pairc and Uig,
the number of people affected was relatively less
than in other parts of the Outer Hebrides, and
that a higher proportion of those who were cleared
re-settled in other areas of Lewis.
THE CLEARANCES IN LEWIS: TRUTH OR
MYTH?
Price: £ 5.00 (paperback) |
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MOORLAND
WITHOUT CROFTERS
THE
SECOND ANGUS MACLEOD MEMORIAL LECTURE BY PROFESSOR
JAMES HUNTER 20 pp with photographs,
retail price £5.
A
commemorative booklet including the full text
of James Hunters thought provoking address in
October 2005 in memory of Angus Macleod.
MOORLAND WITHOUT CROFTERS
Price: £ 5.00 |
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PASSION
AND PARADOX - THE FIRST ANGUS MACLEOD MEMORIAL
LECTURE
BY
PROFESSOR DONALD MACLEOD,
16pp
with illustrations, retail price £5.
The text of Donald Macleod's inspirational address
in October 2004 about the life of the late Angus
'Ease' Macleod of South Lochs, Lewis.
PASSION AND PARADOX
Price: £ 5.00 |
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You
can purchase items from our list online using
the Add to Basket buttons above, or you can download
our order form and send your order by post.
ISLAND
NOTES
 Island
Notes is a series of Book Trust publications.
These are summaries of talks given at events arranged
by the Book Trust (already made available to Gold
members).
The
series is produced in an attractive A4 format
and is available at a modest price.
Details
of the ‘Island Notes’ currently available
are shown below.
SPECIAL OFFER
Order a set of the complete 26 Island Notes series
for the reduced price of £34
ISLAND NOTES - COMPLETE SERIES
Price: £ 34.00 |
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- St Kilda and Foula - survival and decline
John Randall Michael Robson Isobel Holborn
ISLAND NOTES - ST. KILDA AND
FOULA
Price: £ 2.00 |
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- Place names of Barra & Lewis Michael
Robson Anke-Beate Stahl
ISLAND NOTES - PLACE NAMES OF
BARRA AND LEWIS
Price: £ 2.00 |
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- History of Port of Ness Harbour - Michael
Robson
ISLAND NOTES - HISTORY OF PORT
OF NESS HARBOUR
Price: £ 1.00 |
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