Category Archives: Travel Guides
The Little Book of the Sea – Food and Drink
Have you ever wondered how many servings of fish and chips are sold in the UK per year? Why women, on average, catch bigger fish than men? Or what the last meal served onboard the Titanic consisted of? If so, enjoy this second helping of “The Little Book of the Sea” series, which gathers together
The Ragged Lion: A Novel
In this critically-acclaimed fictional memoir of Sir Walter Scott, Allan Massie recreates the life and times of one of Scotland`s greatest writers,convincingly capturing Scott`s humour, stoicism and eccentricity. Combining imaginative plausibility with his own deep knowledge of and love forScott`s work, Massie reveals the intimate thoughts of a man at odds with his popular image:
The Case of the Constant Suicides: A Gideon Fell Mystery
Having lost all his money in hare-brained get-rich-quick schemes, old Angus Campbell has nothing to leave his heirs but the proceeds of his lifeinsurance policies. After he falls to his death from a locked bedchamber in the tower of Shira Castle in the Scottish Highlands, his family gather.They are joined by amateur sleuth Dr Gideon
Black Camp 21
All over Britain, POW camps are filling up with defeated German soldiers. Every day, thousands more pour in on ships from France. But only the most dangerous are sent to Camp 21 – `black` prisoners – SS diehards who`ve sworn death before surrender. Nothing will stop their war, unless it`s a bullet.As one fanatic plots
The Book of Iona: An Anthology
`The Book of Iona` shows how novelists, poets, saints and sinners over the centuries have written about one of the world s most famous and best loved islands. Including many new, specially commissioned Iona stories and poems from writers including Meg Bateman, Jennie Erdal, Meaghan Delahunt, Candia McWilliam, Ruth Thomas and Alice Thompson, this anthology
The Silent Traveller in Edinburgh
New Edition with full colour illustrations throughoutChiang Yee was, in his own words, `dazzled` by the Scottish capital. From the Meadows to Princes Street, from Arthur`s Seat to Calton Hill and Edinburgh Castle, he paints an unforgettable picture of the city and its people in the 1940s. Writing with wry humour, he broadens our perspective
The Wild Wind
From the winner of the 2018 Writers` Guild Award Vanish to a different land with Sissy Olikara. Sissy is twelve years old, living with her parents and baby brother on a school campus outside Lusaka. It is 1978, and the political situation in Zambia is becoming volatile. The family enjoy a gentle life until, suddenly,
Un-Discovered Islands: An Archipelago of Myths and Mysteries, Phantoms and Fakes
Gathered in this book are over twenty islands that have decidedly human origins, whether they are the products of imagination, deception or simply human error. They are phantoms, fakes and legends: an archipelago of ex-isles and forgotten lands.From the well-known myths of Atlantis to the more obscure legends of Thule and Antilla, from the islands
The Arctic – An Anthology
The Arctic – An Anthology, edited by Elizabeth Kolbert, features writers as diverse as Fridtjof Nansen, Barry Lopez and Jules Verne in a cross genre collection that bears witness to the magic and history of the region. The Arctic has long been alluring to the collective imagination; it is beautiful, barren, desolate and, in the
The Antarctic – An Anthology
The Antarctic – An Anthology, edited by Francis Spufford, brings together first-person accounts of exploration, travelogues, and works of cultural history, natural science and fiction about the South Pole and its environs. Contributors are British, Norwegian, American, Australian, Japanese and Russian amongst other nationalities, and include some of the better known names in polar exploration
Somewhere Towards the End
Diana Athill made her reputation as a writer with the candour of her memoirs, now aged ninety, and freed from any inhibitions that even she may once have had, she reflects frankly on the losses and occasionally the gains that old age brings, and on the wisdom and fortitude required to face death. This is
Fishing in Utopia – Sweden and the Future that Disappeared
Andrew Brown’s Fishing in Utopia is part autobiography and part social analysis of Swedish society outside Stockholm from the years of socialism to the liberal government of today. The urge of nature brings Brown back to Sweden in 2005 and he is disappointed to find it is not the country he remembered from living there.
The Thirty-One Kings: Richard Hannay Returns
June 1940.As German troops pour across France, the veteran soldier and adventurer Richard Hannay is called back into service. In Paris an individual code named `Roland` has disappeared and is assumed to be in the hands of Nazi agents. Only he knows the secret of the Thirty-One Kings, a secret upon which the whole future
Balti Britain
Sardar travels to Asian communities throughout the UK to tell the history of Asians in Britain – from the arrival of the first Indian in 1614, to the young extremists in Walthamstow mosque in 2006. He interweaves throughout an illuminating account of his own life, describing his carefree childhood in Pakistan, his family`s emigration to
The Second Worst Restaurant in France
Paul Stewart has returned to Scotland to continue his successful career. His agent and girlfriend, Gloria, has arranged for him to write The Philosophy of Food in Six Easy Chapters, a project he relishes but that will have to be delivered in six months. It is not going well, as Paul finds his domestic circumstances
A Country in the Moon
In A Country in the Moon, Michael Moran gives an insider`s view of Poland – what was once the largest country in Europe; one that evolved under a succession of brutal invasions, which suffered through the Holocaust and was plunged into communism. This entertaining memoir and meticulously researched cultural journey is a timely celebration of
A Far Cry From Kensington
After young publishing assistant and war widow Mrs Hawkins crosses swords with writer Hector Bartlett the repercussions are swift. Set in postwarliterary London, A Far Cry from Kensington is a mischievous and stylish tale of the cost of telling the truth.This is one of the 22 novels written by Muriel Spark in her lifetime. All
Bluebird
Vesna Maric left Bosnia the beginning of the war, at the age of 16, on a convoy of coaches carrying refugees to Penrith, in the north of England. “Bluebird” is Vesna`s funny, vivid and immensely readable memoir of the experience, from the beginning of the war through to her eventual return to Bosnia, years later.
Sick Heart River
“Sick Heart River” is John Buchan`s most powerful novel and his last, completed days before his death. It was published posthumously in 1941. Buchan`s rich descriptions of the rugged Canadian Northwest Territories are influenced by his real-life voyage down the Mackenzie River in 1937. At that time, Buchan was Governor-General of Canada. The main character,
