Books - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 416

Books
We've highlighted a selection of books below that will give you a flavour
of the Scottish Highlands and Islands, past and present; books marked with
Ì are particularly recommended.
HISTORY, POLITICS AND CULTURE
Ì Neal Ascherson Stones Voices . Intelligent, thought-
provoking ponderings on the nature of Scotland and the
road to devolution from Scots-born Observer journalist,
interspersed with personal anecdotes.
Joni Buchanan The Lewis Land Struggle . A history of
crucial encounters between the crofters of Lewis and their
various landlords, written from the crofters' point of view
using contemporary sources.
Tom Devine The Scottish Nation 1700-2000 . Best post-
Union history from the last Scottish Parliament to the
new one.
Ì David Howarth The Shetland Bus . Wonderfully detailed
story of the espionage and resistance operations carried out

from Shetland by British and Norwegian servicemen, written
by someone who was directly involved.
Fitzroy Maclean Bonnie Prince Charlie . Very readable and
more or less definitive biography of Scotland's most
romantic historical figure written by the “real” James Bond.
John Prebble Glencoe, Culloden and The Highland Clearances .
Emotive and subjective accounts of key events in Highland
history, which are very readable.
Ì Author unknown Orkneyinga Saga . Probably written
about 1200 AD, this is a Norse saga which sheds light on the
connection between Norway and the Northern Isles, still felt
strongly today; contains history of the early earls of Orkney,
and is, incidentally, a stirring, bloodthirsty thriller.

GUIDES AND PICTURE BOOKS
George Mackay Brown Portrait of Orkney . A personal
account by the famous Orcadian poet of the island, its history
and way of life, illustrated with photographs and drawings.
Derek Cooper Skye . A gazetteer and guide, and an
indispensable mine of information; although first written
in 1970, it has been revised where necessary.
Sheila Gear Foula, Island West of the Sun . An attempt to
convey what it is like to live far out in the sea on an island
of savage beauty.
Ì Hamish Haswell-Smith The Scottish Islands . An

exhaustive and impressive gazetteer with maps and
absorbing information on all the Scottish islands. Filled with
attractive sketches and paintings, the topic is breathtaking
in its thoroughness and lovingly gathered detail.
Charles Maclean St Kilda . Traces the social history of
the island, from its earliest beginnings to the seemingly
inevitable end of the community, with moving compassion.
Magnus Magnusson Rùm: Nature's Island . A detailed
history of Rùm from earliest times up to its current position
as a National Nature Reserve.

MEMOIRS AND TRAVELOGUES
Jim Crumley The Great Wood . The history, wildlife and folk-
lore of the 5000-year-old Caledonian forest, is the latest work
from this prolific author who writes with a poetic intensity.
Also Among Islands, The Isle of Skye and Gulfs of Blue Air .
David Duff (ed.) Queen Victoria's Highland Journals . The
daily diary of the Scottish adventures of “Mrs Brown” -
Victoria's writing is detailed and interesting without being
twee, and she lovingly conveys her affection for Deeside
and the Highlands.
Rowena Farre Seal Morning . An absorbing account of a
young girl growing up on a remote croft in the Highlands
towards the beginning of the last century and the wildlife
she adopted. Eight-year-olds and upwards will love it and
so will adults.
Ì Elizabeth Grant of Rothiemurchus Memoirs of a
Highland Lady . Hugely readable recollections, written with
wit and perception at the beginning of the eighteenth
century, charting the social changes in Edinburgh, London

and particularly Speyside.
Peter Hill Stargazing . Engaging account of being a tyro
lighthouse-keeper on three of Scotland's most famous
lighthouses: Pladda, Ailsa Craig and Hyskeir.
Ì Samuel Johnson & James Boswell A Journey to
the Western Isles of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour to
the Hebrides . Lively accounts of a famous journey around
the islands taken by the noted lexicographer Dr Samuel
Johnson, and his biographer and friend.
Alasdair Maclean Night Falls on Ardnamurchan . First
published in 1984 but frequently reprinted, this is a classic
and moving story of the life and death of the Highland
community in which the author grew up.
Gavin Maxwell Ring of Bright Water . Heart-warming true
tale of a man's relationship with three otters. Suitable for
7-year-olds upwards.
Ì Iain Mitchell Isles of the West ; Isle of the North . In
the first book, Mitchell sails round the Inner Hebrides,