Further Reading

I found the Shell book of the Islands of Britain in Oxfam bookshop York, which by default is going to become the backbone of this odyssey. There appear to be very few books published which cover the Nation’s islands as a complete work, certainly none published recently. This book, written by David Booth and David Perrott, was published as long ago as 1981, but the geographical and historical content is certainly just as relevant today. Indeed I do not expect substantial change since the Authors compiled the book, I imagine the bigger changes to be transport based, such as the bridge to Skye and various causeways that have been built to improve access. But we shall see.

There are many books that deal with Scotland’s islands, mainly tourist guides and in small groups. I don’t really intend to delve into this field, however I may look for some travel writing of an island nature, to compare and contrast experiences. Also in the very growing world of travel literature are list based books, such as ‘1000 places to see before you day’ or one I recently spotted ‘Britain’s 1000 wildest places’ which included several island locations. I remain unconvinced of the merits of these list books as anything other than coffee table fodder really, lacking in detail, although that could entice further investigation.  Also on my bookshelf are the 100 greatest cycling hills in Britain, and the follow up volume, so I need to check out if any of these are on islands…