Isles of the West

by IanMitchell (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2001

  $3.28

  This book describes a three-month sea voyage made around the Hebrides. Interwoven with the beauty of the environment and the friendliness of the locals is the vision of the Highlands and islands as an unspoilt natural tapestry that must be preserved at all costs from the ravages of humans.

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $6.71

  Isles of the West describes a three-month voyage made in the summer of 1996 around the Hebrides. The author's aim was to explore the major issues peculiar to the islands as the century dawns. How does land reform, for example, look from the point of view of the islanders? Does nature conservation actually help the environment? Is the commercial promotion of 'heritage' a blessing or a curse? Interwoven with the beauty of the islands and the seductive feeling of freedom which comes from making long voyages in small boats is the nagging worry that alien forces, both Scottish and European, sentimental and mercenary, are distorting the indigenous society by imposing outside ideas on communities which are valued in part because they are so free of external pressures. Who are these bodies, both public and private, that want to save the islands from the islanders? Ian Mitchell's controversial book examines these conflicts and describes how pleasant it can be to worry about the future while lolling on the sun-drenched deck of a gently moving sailing boat.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1999

  $3.28