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Hebrides: Islands on the Edge DVD
Great news for all those who weren’t able to watch the stunning “Hebrides – Islands on the Edge” series which featured so much brilliant wildlife and scenery footage of Islay and the neighbouring islands. And of course great news for those who want to watch again, and again! Hebrides – Islands on the Edge was broadcasted earlier this year on BBC Scotland and later UK wide on BBC2. The complete series are now available on DVD
Norman Newton – Islay guide
A small book, but loaded with gorgeous colour pictures of this beautiful Island in the Hebrides. Has a Useful Information and Places to visit Guide. Gives you a crash course of Place-Names and their pronunciation, so you won’t be murdering the Gaelic. Includes of map, gives information of Medieval ruins, the Islay distilleries – which produces fine Single Malt Whisky. Gives you a real flavour of this delightful Island. The book is soft sided and lightweight so if you plan to visit, the book is easy to take along. One of the most handy Islay books available.
Islay, Jura and Colonsay: A Historical Guide
This work explores the history of the Hebridean islands of Islay, Jura and Colonsay. It covers the human occupation since earliest times, the relics left on the islands, monasteries, forts, carvings, artefacts of mesolithic times through to the modern-day distilleries of Islay and Jura.
Islay’s Coastline
Becky Williams took hundreds of photographs and selected over a hundred to include in a book titled “Islay’s Coastline”, which is a celebration of Islay’s magnificent coastline. The photographs are ordered in a clockwise sequence round the island and are accompanied by seven hand-drawn maps. This is a beautiful keepsake or gift for anyone with a love of the Isle of Islay.
The Book of Islay
This very rare work is now to be republished in a facsimile of the complete text, but in a much more manageable form – each copy of the original edition weighed 4470 grammes. There are 92 pages of introductory text, including some 60 pages in which G. Gregory Smith sets the context for the main body of the work. There are also 648 pages of main text including Genealogical Tables and a very detailed index. The text consists of 259 documents, with English translations as required, together with scholarly notes.
Margaret Storrie – Biography of an Island
Dr Margaret Storrie gives a comprehensive account about the past and present of Islay. Anyone wishing to learn and understand the history of Islay will find this book fascinating. A must for those interested in Islay and the best Islay book according to many.
Gilbert Carmichael – Old Islay
All aspects of island life are covered here: there’s a plane on the Strand; peat being carried home in a horse-drawn cart; the distilleries at Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Bowmore, Lagavulin and Ardbeg; the cattle show; pictures of steamers berthed at Port Ellen; and more.
Andrew Jefford – Peat Smoke and Spirit
Those who discover malt whisky quickly learn that the malts made on the Isle of Islay are some of the wildest and most characterful in the malt-whisky spectrum. In PEAT SMOKE AND SPIRIT, Islay’s fascinating story is uncovered: from its history and stories of the many shipwrecks which litter its shores, to intimate descriptions of the beautiful wildlife, landscape and topography of the island. Interwoven through these different narrative strands comes the story of the whiskies themselves, traced from a distant past of bothies and illegal stills to present-day legality and prosperity. The flavour of each spirit is analysed and the differences between them teased out, as are the stories of the notable men and women who have played such a integral part in their creation. PEAT SMOKE AND SPIRIT is the last word on Islay and its whiskies.
George Robertson – Islay and Jura
As part of a series of books by Scotland’s leading photographers, George Robertson (Lord Robertson of Port Ellen), former Defence Chief of NATO, has produced an intriguing and, dare I say it, eccentric collection of photographs of his favourite islands. And has also provided us with an individual view of the isles through a ten page introduction to many of the delights described through his colour photographs in the following pages. The photographs are not necessarily the images of the islands that you would normally see – George knows the place(s) well, and from a different viewpoint than those generally charged with this visual task. From the legs of Islay Pipe Band (really) to the remains of a deserted Islay village of yesterday, this book will let you into many of Islay and Jura’s secrets that you may have missed on a recent visit, or will be eager to track down on a forthcoming one. If there is a criticism of the book (not the photographer) it’s the quality of the printing. many of the images appear somewhat dull and lifeless without the sparkle of colour that I know to be there. too much black ink on the plate. There are a few obvious spelling errors in the captions and it would have been nice to have had page numbers, but all in all, this is a delightful addition to the islands’ panoply. Brian Palmer
Seanchas Ile: Islay’s Folklore Project
This book is a selection of local folklore from Gaelic speakers on Islay. It includes local stories, recollections of how Islay has changed over the years, proverbs, as well as historical information and testimonies of the lives of local people. Parallel Gaelic/ English throughout. With colour photos.
Walking on Islay and Jura
A guide to the best walking on Scotland’s remote Southern Hebrides – Jura, Islay, Colonsay and Oronsay – featuring one classic 5-day wilderness trek along the west coast of Jura and 11 day walks across the islands, include a round of the iconic Paps of Jura, from bases such as Port Askaig, Port Ellen and Scalasaig. This new guide opens up the area to the experienced walker, describing many previously unpublished routes.
A Very Canny Scot: ‘Great’ Daniel Campbell of Shawfield and Islay 1670-1753
Daniel Campbell of Shawfield and Islay was a towering figure in early eighteenth-century Scottish history. Known as ‘Great’ Daniel due to both his height and his success, his life spanned Union with England and the final suppression of the Jacobite cause. Raised amid the violence of the late seventeenth-century Highlands, he left home to make his fortune, initially trading illegally with the English colonies of North America and the Caribbean. Eventually his mercantile success laid the foundations of Glasgow’s role in global trade and he became one of the richest men in Scotland. An ardent anti-Jacobite, he sat in the last Scottish Parliament before the Union with England in 1707, and was appointed as one of the Commissioners to negotiate the terms of the Act, as well as of the ‘Equivalent’ – the compensation paid to Scotland by England.Daniel commissioned one of Scotland’s earliest Palladian buildings, the Shawfield Mansion in Glasgow; his house at Woodhall in Lanarkshire was considered amongst the finest estates in Scotland.
David Caldwell – Islay: The Land of the Lordship
Islay was originally part of Dal Riata, the early kingdom of the Scots, but was then colonised by Scandinavian settlers in the middle of the ninth century. It was also the home of the MacDonalds who established the Lordship of the Isles during the Medieval Period. In the Gaelic world, their status was king-like and, at the height of their power in the 15th century, they mounted a challenge to the Stewart dynasty for control of Scotland. However, this book is not just about the great men. It also looks at the lesser folk, especially during the time of the Campbell lairds, from the early 17th century onwards.Archaeology combined with documentary research has helped to build up a picture of how the people of Islay lived, the way the land was farmed and the development of local industries, including the distilling of whisky. This book provides a comprehensive grounding in island history for visitors and locals alike, and, for the valuable details it gives on local families, will be particularly valued by genealogists and those tracing their roots to Islay.
Hamish Haswell Smith – The Scottish Islands
From the abandoned crofts of Mingulay and the standing stones of Orkney to the white beaches of Colonsay and the spectacular Cuillins of Skye, this is a complete gazetteer covering all of Scotland’s many hundreds of islands, including those which are uninhabited and those which are notoriously difficult to reach. Packed with information on access, anchorages, points of historical or natural interest and things to do and see, this compendium provides information for touring, for browsing, for reference, and for all of those travellers who wish to experience some of the most beautiful and remote places in the world. Illustrated with full colour illustrations and relief maps of all the main islands, this is both an impressive work of reference and a fascinating personal view of Scotland’s distant outposts.
Neil Wilson – The Island Whisky Trail
This guide for the whisky enthusiast covers the distilleries of the Hebrides and the west coast of Scotland. Neil Wilson first visited these distilleries in 1984, aboard the ketch “Alystra” and wrote “Scotch and Water” as a result of his trip, delving into the history, development and the people who made the great whiskies of history. This book incorporates the original research from “Scotch and Water” and includes a great deal of new material. The Islay malt sector is growing faster than any other in the trade, and this has led to the annual Islay Whisky Festival which attracts thousands of overseas visitors. The book not only features the established distilleries on Islay (Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Bowmore, Ardbeg, CaolIla, Lagavulin, Laphroaig) and Jura, Mull and Skye (Talisker) but also the lost distilleries of Port Ellen and Port Charlotte and the soon-to-be-built Kilchoman Distillery on Islay.
Whisky Dream: Waking a Giant
“Whisky Dream” tells the extraordinary story of one man’s dream to raise from the dead not one, but two of Islay’s most cherished malts. After a hard-fought battle, former wine merchant Mark Reynier, together with old business partner Simon and masterblender Jim McEwan reopened Bruichladdich in 2001 after seven years of silent mash-tuns. Port Charlotte Distillery, closed its doors on Islay in 1929, exactly a century after its foundation, as a direct result of a major downturn in the whisky industry becoming nothing more than a windswept ruin. Not happy with achieving what even their families and close friends told them was impossible with Bruichladdich, and after declaring that he would ‘never, ever, ever do this again’, Mark set his sights on the traumatic challenge of, indeed, ‘doing it all over again’ with Port Charlotte.
Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible
Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2012 is a revised and expanded edition of the highly successful and innovative book that had its genesis in 2003. This established market leader takes account of all the latest developments in the world of whisky. What makes this book such a tour de force, however, is the tasting notes on hundreds and hundreds of different brands. The author has travelled around the world checking out whisky from distilleries as far-flung as Pakistan and Finland, as well as the world-leaders in Scotland, Ireland, Japan and the United States. In terms of whisky, this is the gospel, a must have reference!
Definitive World Guide to Malt Whisky
A must for every whisky connoisseur! Enjoy a wee nip of the “water of life” with the world’s bestselling whisky writer, Michael Jackson. Embark on a global journey, from the highlands of Scotland to the trendy whisky bars of Tokyo, to discover the world of whisky as it is today. Includes tasting notes of the key whiskies for each distillery and details of how to order. Michael Jackson is the world’s leading authority on whisky. He has won many accolades, including the Andre Simon Award and no fewer than five Glenfiddich Awards. He also contributes to a number of publications, including The Independent and Whisky Magazine. Michael lives in Hammersmith, London.
Legend of Laphroaig
If you love your Laphroaig and curious how the liquid ended up in a bottle near you, you have to buy the book. There are coffee table books, that are just that. Decorating the coffee table. This one gives you an insight into the workings of a distillery and not just that, it gives you an insight in the distillery through the ages. Situated in the southern part of Islay, Laphroaig is with it’s companion distilleries in that area ( Ardbeg and Lagavulin) one of the distilleries, that put a lot of smoke and peat in their whiskies.
A Land that Lies Westward
This book is a fascinating collection of new studies by leading scholars on central aspects of the languages, literatures, place-names, culture and history of the Isles of Islay and Jura and along the western seaboard of Argyll. It includes major re-assessments of the nineteenth-century Islay poet William Livingston, and an analysis of the Scots found in the poems of Tarbert poet George Campbell Hay. It describes the Gaelic of Jura and Islay as well as the patterns of place-names. In view of the proximity of these regions to Ulster, there are several fresh accounts of historical, cultural and genealogical exchange and crossover. The book ends with a new appreciation of Orwell’s time on Jura.
Samuel Johnson – Journey to the Hebrides
Samuel Johnson and James Boswell spent the autumn of 1773 touring the Highlands and the Western Islands of Scotland. Both kept detailed notes of their impressions and later published separate accounts of their journey together. The account of their great tour is one of the finest pieces of travel writing ever produced: it is a historical document and also a portrait of two extraordinary personalities. The juxtaposition of the two very different accounts creates a portrait of a society which was utterly alien to the Europe of the Enlightenment, and straining on the brink of calamitous change. It is suitable as a key text for school and college courses in literary or social history studies. Samuel Johnson is the author of “A Dictionary of the English Language” and “The Lives of The English Poets”. James Boswell is the author of “The Life of Samuel Johnson”.
The Lords of the Isles
Tracing its origins back to the great Somerled, Raymond Campbell Paterson charts the steady ascent of Clan Donald to the zenith of its power in the 15th century, when the Lords of the Isles controlled much of the Hebrides, as well as extensive parts of the mainland, including the vast earldom of Ross. So powerful had the clan become that it was even able to challenge the authority of the Scottish Crown at the Battles of Harlaw and Inverlochy and plan to partition Scotland with Edward IV of England.Pride was followed by destruction, and James IV finally deposed the last Lord of the Isles in 1493. But under the chiefs of Clanranald, Glengarry, Sleat, Keppoch, Dunyveg and Glencoe, the various branches of the clan. Large and small, continued for many years to fight for their own independence and the independence of the old Gaelic world. The former enemies of the house of Stewart, they ended among the last of its defenders. Long vanished as a territorial power, the past glory of Clan Donald continues to be remembered to this very day.
Excavations of a Prehistoric to Early Medieval Site
The fertile island of Islay in the Inner Hebrides has been a focus for human settlement since earliest times. On its north coast, the sandy grasslands of the Ardnave peninsula were particularly attractive, and excavations at Kilellan have yielded evidence of intermittent activities spanning some seven thousand years from Mesolithic times to the Early Historic period. This was the work principally of Colin Burgess, and it produced important collections of Mesolithic flintwork and Early Bronze Age pottery, as well as traces of round houses and an intact Middle Iron Age souterrain. Between about 800 BC and AD 200, there were at least two episodes of occupation, and the discovery of a rare and costly silver dress pin set with garnets hints that there may have been a high-status settlement close by in the seventh or eighth centuries AD.
Whisky Legends of Islay
This witty and diverting book, from musician and whisky expert Robin Laing, captivates the reader with folklore and history reflecting aspects of Islay life, all relating back to whisky. Simultaneously entertaining, comforting and informative, Laing uses narrative and lyric to examine the relationship between the islanders of Islay and whisky. When grouped together as a whole, the various anecdotes, poems and songs beautifully illustrate the importance that whisky plays in the lives of the people of Islay, but also of how it has shaped their history.
RSPB Scottish Birds
A very clear and easy to use guidebook of common Scottish birds. The single page listing for each of birds (200+) has all the relevant info laid out including a mini map of Scotland highlighted with where to find the bird for that page in summer, winter, resident or migration. Value for money and good size for popping into rucsac or car glovebox.
Geology of Islay
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
Island Moments
The islands of Islay and Taransay are the inspiration behind this book. They are part of the island archipelago that fringes Scotland’s west coast. Islay belongs to the Inner Hebrides and Taransay to the Outer Hebrides. In these places, you are on an edge, between land and ocean, rock and sky, desolation and abundance, intimacy and awe. Time and tides come and go, concealing and revealing. The pictures have been arranged in pairs with words that seek to match a fleeting ‘island moment’.
Bookshop Maps Section
Landranger Islay Map
This map is part of the Landranger (Pink) series and is designed for people who really want to get to know an area. It includes the following information: tourist information, camping and caravan sites, picnic areas and viewpoints, selected places of interest and rights of way information for England and Wales. Each map in the series covers an area of 40 km by 40 km (25 miles by 25 miles) and like other Ordnance Survey maps, National Grid squares are provided so that any feature can be given a unique reference number. Perfect for planning ahead and local excursions, these maps are full of useful information that will help you really get to know an area
Islay South – Ordnance Survey
These maps are part of the Ordnance Survey’s Explorer series designed to replace the old Pathfinder map series. At 1:25,000 scale this detailed map shows a host of attractions including gardens which are open to the public, nature reserves 
and country parks as well as all official footpaths, bridleways, roads and lanes. Other facilities covered include: camping and caravan sites, picnic areas and viewpoints, selected places of interest, rights of way information for England and Wales, National Trail and Recreational Path routes, and selected tourist information. The main advantages of this map are the geographical design of the sheetlines to capture the best local coverage, and the coverage of a larger area for value for money. The series is aimed mainly at the experienced map user but can be used by tourists and locals alike.