Category Archives: Travel Guides
Snowdon – The Story of a Welsh Mountain
The story of Snowdon in Jim Perrin`s words. The secrets within its fractured rocks and its shy flora, its folk tales echoing an older race and its beliefs, travellers` chronicles, industry, sport and an anthology of literature all contribute towards our understanding of the mountain.
Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw – Excursions in the Great Weird North
Will Ferguson spent three years criss-crossing Canada: in a helicopter above the barren-lands of the sub-arctic; in a canoe with his four-year old son; on seaplanes; and on the Underground Railroad. Ferguson`s travels have taken him from Cape Spear on the coast of Newfoundland to the sun-dappled streets of Olde Victoria. Delving into Canada`s history
Summit Fever
When poet Andrew Greig was asked by Scottish mountaineer Mal Duff to join his ascent of the Mustagh Tower in the Karakoram Himalayas, he had a poor head for heights and no climbing experience whatsoever. The result is this unique book. “Summit Fever” has been loved by climbers and literary critics alike for its refreshing
High Endeavours
Robin Smith was one of the most daring climbers ever to have tackled a mountain. This definitive biography draws on contributions from people who knew this charismatic and complex young man, as well as diary extracts from Smith himself. A friend and inspiration to many climbers worldwide, including fellow Scot Dougal Haston, “High Endeavours” is
The Successor
This is a powerful political novel based on the sudden, mysterious death of the man who had been handpicked to succeed the hated Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha – by an author, the “Wall Street Journal” called `one of the most compelling novelists now writing in any language`. Did he commit suicide or was he murdered?
Steal You Away
Pietrp is eleven years old. His father is alcoholic, his mother mentally disturbed, and he dreams of running away. But befroe he can leave, a weary traveller arrives in town. This ageing Casanova has a penchant for young women and flamenco. Life in Ischiano Scalo will never be the same again.
Agamemnon`s Daughter
Sacrificed to further a father`s blood-soaked career; sacrificed for the common good; sacrificed, then forgotten. In his compelling prequel to The Successor, Kadare draws us into a land deprived of choice, a country under a reign of terror. Published here in English for the first time, the spellbinding Agamemnon`s Daughter, written in Albania in the
Dear Olivia
In this fascinating follow-up to the highly successful “Dear Francesca”, Mary Contini writes to her other daughter, Olivia, to tell the story of her great-grandparents, the humble Italian shepherds who emigrated to Edinburgh and then helped to transform Britain`s food culture. Sharing some of the recipes that they brought over – the tomatoes, the garlic,
Malt Whisky: The Complete Guide
Malt whisky has captured the hearts of spirits drinkers worldwide, especially in recent years. This fully revised and updated edition of the award-winning Malt Whisky is now in a handy portable size, making it the perfect companion for touring Scotland s distilleries. First published in 1997, the book has been printed in six languages and
My Father`s Notebook
On a holy mountain in the depths of Persia, there is a cave with a mysterious cuneiform carving deep inside it. Aga Akbar, a deaf-mute boy from the mountain, develops his own private script from these symbols and writes passionately of his life, his family and his efforts to make sense of the changes the
Islam
One of the world`s foremost commentators on religious affairs on the history (and destiny) of the world`s most misunderstood religion.In the public mind, Islam is a religion of extremes: it is the world`s fastest growing faith; more than three-quarters of the world`s refugees are Islamic; it has produced government by authoritarian monarchies in Saudi Arabia
Lost City of the Incas
First published in the 1950s, The Lost City of the Incas by Hiram Bingham is the amazing account of the impressive discovery in 1911 of the lost city of Machu Picchu. Re-published now with an introduction by Hugh Thomson, this story is as fascinating as the ancient Incas civilization itself.Much of the wild country of
Restoration London: Everyday Life in the 1660s
`From poverty to pets, from medicine to magic, from slang to sex, from wallpaper to women`s rights` A glorious portrait of life in London from 1660-1670 by the bestselling author of ELIZABETH`S LONDON. Making use of every possible contemporary source – diaries, memoirs, advice books, government papers, almanacs, even the Register of Patents – Liza
Quaternary of the Trent
This volume is an integrated overview and synthesis of available data relating to the Quaternary evolution of the River Trent. It provides detailed descriptions of the Pleistocene sedimentary records from the Trent, its tributaries and related drainage systems – a sedimentary record that spans a period of approximately half a million years – and the
In High Places
In his own words Dougal Haston covers the years from his childhood in Scotland, where his love of climbing was first sparked, through to his development into perhaps the most formidable climber of his generation; his reputation was forged by his successful ascents of familiar peaks by unfamiliar routes (of which the most famous was
Please Don`t Call Me Human
Wang Shuo imagines an Olympics where nations compete not on the basis of athletic prowess, but on their citizens` capacity for humiliation. China is determined to win at any cost. Enter a slacker pedicab driver from Beijing, a degenerate nihilist who rips off his own face in order to win the gold for his country.
Stargazing
When Peter Hill, a student at Dundee College of Art, answered an advert in The Scotsman seeking lighthouse keepers, little did he imagine that within a month he would be living with three men he didn`t know in a lighthouse on Pladda, a small remote island off the west coast of Scotland. Hill was nineteen,
Playing for Thrills
A tripped out sarcastic novel of urban alienation centred around a mysterious murder. Set in a Beijing populated by low-life gangsters and villains, it is narrated by the chief suspect of the crime though even he seems unclear as to whether he committed it or not. Riveting. The most brilliantly entertaining hardboiled novel of the
The Girl Who Married a Lion – Folktales from Africa
First published in 1989 as Children of Wax, The Girl Who Married a Lion includes all but one of the original stories and features six new folk tales, an introduction by Alexander McCall Smith and a letter from the one and only Mma Ramotswe. From animal fables to mysterious forces residing in the landscape, this
