Recommended if you are spending any time in a particular area of scotland, this entire series is well-organized and comprehensive about what to see. See my review in the Edinburgh title of this series for chapter contents and more.

Lovely color photos of Scotland with text that helps to give context to the historical significance of the site pictured. Chapters include "The Distant Past," "The Time of the Clans," "The Jacobite Risings" and the present day. Very pretty book.

Following the television series, Wonders of the African World by Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Africanist world refocused attention on slave trade in Africa. Gates Jr. oversimplified the complex history of slavery by suggesting that if Africans had not sold slaves, there would not have been any slavery. Pier Larson's text comes at an appropriate time, to demonstrate just how complex the story of enslavement was and to correctly warn that we do a lot of injustice to a complex history by stopping at identifying losers and winner, benefits and disruptions.

The study focuses on the realm of cultural transformation and is exceptional in several identifiable ways. First, it pays immense attention to the process of enslavement and to those who remained in the slave supplying society. Secondly, it re-integrates Madagascar into the wider Indian Ocean mercantile system and into the general history of Africa. Thirdly, the study demonstrates that slave trade entailed opportunities and challenges and that people made choices on the basis of their circumstances, some of which changed drastically and forced some to enslave kin, neighbors and relatives.

Larson argues that the notion of diapora ought to be extended. Many people were displaced within Africa. They were mostly women and children and they were more than those who crossed the Atlantic. The notion of diapora, he argues, ought to be extended to include intra-continental displacement. Finally, the study shows that some societies worked to create a post-slavery dispensation that was fruitful to their existence. In Madagascar, Larson demonstrates how the people constructed memories of slavery that they used to create their political and later ethnic identity as Merina while at the same time they constructed historical amnesia about those things they did not wish to remember.

This study is a welcome addition to the history of slave trade, the historiography of Africa and to the discipline of history. The study re-interprets the notion of historical sources in a more inclusive perspective. This should be intriguing to all historians. It also extends our history of social displacement which should be good reading for human rights activists, humanitarians and people operating in conflict situation. The author is not only persuasive but is also innovative and lucid in his analysis. I strongly recommend this book to all those mentioned above and students of African studies around the world.

This little book, small enough to fit in a hiker's pocket is a thorough guide to these old landmarks. The author really knows his stuff; it's obvious that he's explored these areas for years. He tells you the history of each mine, it's location and what to expect. I wish I had this book when I was a kid in Ringwood, one of the oldest mining towns on the East coast! Instead of exploring blindly, I would have been armed with the formidable knowledge this book offers!

Poor Cochrane has just retreived his pooch from quarantine only to have the poor doggie stolen along with his briefcase. Not only that, but the kennel owner's missing car and shotgun make the authorities jumpy. When the events lead to a murder case, as a woman's battered body is found near the burnt car, the kennel owner finds himself embroiled with trouble.
Lovely outdoors adventure in Scotland with a clever mystery involving a dog... who could ask for more?

A must!!!
Take this wonderful collection of muirs wisdom with you whether you are walking among trees, meadows, deserts, or just thinking about a saunter. Chris Highland's compilation of varied writings from John Muir are wonderfully editited, capturing muirs wit, humor and peace of mind. I love this book!!

Elizabeth Grant of Rothiemurchus' biographical volumes offer a very personal look into the past of Scotland (in the first book). Her account of her family's lives and what Scotland was like in the early 19th century would be fascinating to anyone interested in that country or interested in the lives of women of that era. In some ways she seems very contemporary and in other ways she seems very far removed from life today. But her memoirs offer a unique view of how life was lived that long ago and in a place so remote from the mainstream. I found the first book totally enthralling and look forward to reading the other volumes of her later life, after she married an Anglo-Irish landowner and moved to Ireland, and her later travels.

Eric Richards very readable book explores the myths and the facts of Sellar's reputation as the Sutherland factor and sheep-farmer most responsible for the Highland 'clearances' of 1810-1825. Beginning with his early days as a young lawyer in Moray, the book traces his first ventures into Sutherland and his employment by the Duchess of Sutherland to 'improve' the estate. Detailed background is given for the policies of the Estate, with engrossing detail of the people, events and activity of the period. His later life as a sheepfarmer in his own right is followed from his trial for murder (among other things), his subsequent dismissal as Factor for the Duchess, to his reputation as a wealthy and successful farmer, and the largest tenant of the Estate. This Sellar is truly an extraordinary man, not at all likable nor admirable, but tremendously intriguing. Anyone with roots in the Highlands should read this book to begin know the man behind the villiany and the 'improvements' of the Highlands.

In the Reward Game, we see Keith Calder & Molly Calder before they succeed in winning Briesland House. Molly comes back very shaken from an odd occurrence, and before long, car chases, stolen guns, jewels, and Inspector Munro sweeten the stew.

Whenever Keith Calder gets involved in mysteries, you can bet he'll find a way to turn it to profit. As always, Gerald Hammond plots an exciting mystery full of quirks, unexpected turns of plot, and marvelously compelling characters. Highly recommended.

This was a really good book and, though not fast paced, provided excellent as well as insiteful reading.