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Welcome to the Islands Book Trust Website
PUBLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE FROM OUR ONLINE SHOP...
Based in the Hebridean
island of Lewis, we aim to further understanding
of the history of Scottish islands in their wider
Celtic and Nordic contexts through:
- events including talks, visits, and conferences
- publications
- research and education
We have
a full programme of events
planned to achieve these objectives. If you support
our aims, we hope you will join
the Trust and visit us at 10 Callicvol, Port
of Ness, Isle of Lewis and the Angus Macleod Archive,
Ravenspoint Centre, Kershader, South Lochs, Isle
of Lewis.
LATEST SPECIAL OFFER BOOKS - We have a limited number of special prices here
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FUTURE
EVENTS
The Islands Book Trust Programme for 2009 will be published here shortly.
LATEST
ANNOUNCEMENTS
2009 Conference on Emig ration from the Outer Hebrides
more details here
The Islands Book Trust programme of
events including Uist and Barra for 2008 is published here
Visit to the Faroe Islands
We regret that we are no longer proceeding with this event in 2008. We hope to arrange a visit in 2009. Queries, further information, and expressions of interest, to Alayne Barton at alayne@theislandsbooktrust.com or 01851 820946.
Boat trips to :-
St Kilda - (Saturday 19 April),
Taransay (Saturday
24 May),
The Shiants (Saturday 21 June)
Monach Islands (Saturday 14 June)
Little
Bernera (Saturday 19 July).
Pabbay - (Saturday 9 August)
A full programme of events in Uist, Benbecula, Barra
and Skye here
MORE RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
REFLECTIONS ON THE HISTORY OF STORNOWAY AND LEWIS
-Sandy Matheson
Retail price £6
to order
CROSSING THE MINCH
Exploring the Links between Skye and the Outer Hebrides
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Retail price £9.00
to order
THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF ALEXANDER CARMICHAEL 
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Retail price £15.00
to order
STORNOWAY IN WORLD WAR TWO
- Mike Hughes
Retail Price £6.
to order
EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN LEWIS – THE NESS CONNECTION
Retail Price £6 
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LATEST
PUBLICATIONS
ICELAND AND THE HEBRIDES – MY ROOTS by Sally Magnusson
Retail Price £5 
In this illustrated booklet based on a talk given to the Book Trust, Sally Magnusson the well-known journalist and broadcaster reflects on her own Icelandic and Hebridean heritage and the strong if neglected historic links – in both directions - between Iceland and the Hebrides. While it is well known that Lewis and other parts of the Hebrides have many place-names which owe their origin to Norse settlers, the possible influence of Celtic story-telling on the Icelandic sagas and new evidence from DNA analysis suggest that the Hebrides may also have had a profound impact on Icelandic culture.
WHALING AND THE HEBRIDES
Retail Price £12
Whaling played a part in the subsistence economy of the Outer Hebrides for many centuries and has left a strong cultural legacy. In August 2007, The Islands Book Trust held a three day conference in Tarbert, Harris, entitled ‘Whaling and the Hebrides’, with the aim of exploring both whaling in and around the Hebrides and the experiences of Hebrideans who worked in the whaling industry in the South Atlantic in the 20th century. Like all our conferences, this event brought together people from different backgrounds – geographically (from Norway and the Faroes as well as various parts of the Hebrides and Scottish mainland), and occupationally (from academic and scientific experts to those with practical experience of whaling in the South Atlantic). The variety worked well, leading to many friendships and new insights into a shared interest.
This volume brings together the various contributions, providing stimulating reading for anyone with an interest in the history of this forgotten industry
to order
PADRE MAC
A new illustrated and enhanced edition (with a Foreword by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown) of the remarkable autobiography of the late Murdo Ewen MacDonald of Harris – charismatic Church of Scotland Minister in Skye, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and hero of Second World War prisoner of war camp (where he acquired his nickname and took part in the ill-fated initiative later made famous in ‘The Great Escape’ film. As the Prime Minister says, Murdo Ewen was a truly great man – principled, persuasive, humorous – the story of his life and work, from early days in Harris through the adversities of prisoner of war camp to parish ministry and the heights of academia, deserves to be remembered and celebrated.
to order
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| PUBLICATIONS
THE
DECLINE AND FALL OF ST
KILDA
This
thought provoking volume is based on the
very successful conference held in Great
Bernera, Lewis in August 2005 to mark the
75th anniversary of the evacuation of St
Kilda.more...
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ISLAND
NOTES
Island Notes - If you missed one
of our events we have introduced a series
of modestly-priced Island Notes which summarise
talks given at Trust events.
A
price list and order form
is available here
more...
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The
Angus Macleod Archive Proje ct
The Book Trust is leading a project to preserve and make available to the public an important cultural resource known as the Angus Macleod archive - the life's work of the late Angus Macleod MBE (1916-2002) of South Lochs, Lewis. We are working in conjunction with the Pairc Historical Society (Comunn Eachdraidh na Pairc), and with the agreement of Angus Macleod's family on this project.
Angus Macleod was born in Calbost, South Lochs, Lewis, and was at various times during his long life a crofter, seaman, businessman, community leader, historian, and genealogist. He held many public positions, and in particular was the driving force behind the formation of the Scottish Crofters Union in 1985, and of Cuimhneachain nan Gasgeach in 1989 to commemorate those who led the Lewis land struggle in the latter part of the 19 th century and the first part of the 20 th century.
During his life, Angus Macleod personally put together a remarkable archive of written and photographic material, sound recordings, and artefacts covering his wide range of interests. The topics include crofting history, genealogy, fishing history, oral history and song, settlement names and history, land reform, and the Church. A significant part of the material is in Gaelic.
more...
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LEARNING FROM HISTORY – THE NEXT STAGE OF THE ANGUS MACLEOD ARCHIVE PROJECT
The Book Trust is pleased to announce that a new project, entitled Learning from History, will enable the Angus Macleod Archive to remain open to the public and the annual memorial lecture in honour of Angus Macleod to continue during 2008.
Under the project, a Gaelic teacher (Kenny Smith) has been funded by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar to lead a research project which will consider how best material from the Angus Macleod Archive (and also Hebridean Connections and the Callicvol Collection) can be worked up and presented for use in schools. This fulfils a long-standing objective of the Book Trust to encourage greater use of local historical material for education. The Book Trust will be funding a part-time Archive Assistant post based at the Ravenspoint Centre, Kershader, South Lochs, to help with the project, and also to oversee the storage of Book Trust publications, deal with orders for publications, and monitor sales.
The Book Trust’s contribution to the project is being assisted in part by grants from the Hugh Fraser Foundation (£2,000) and the Gatliff Trust (£1,000), to whom we are most grateful. The remainder of the cost (some £10,000) is being funded by the Book Trust from its own resources, and an appeal is being launched to give Book Trust members and others who wish to contribute to this important initiative the opportunity to do so. For further details, please contact Alayne Barton on 01851 820946, email alayne@theislandsbooktrust.com , or make a donation by credit card using the PayPal facility on this website.
If funding is forthcoming from the higher education sector, the project could also be extended to Colleges and Universities.
The Book Trust hopes that, if the research phase of the project in 2008 is successful, a further project might follow, concentrating on the production of educational resources for use in schools.
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| NEWS |
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MACLEAN PRESS
The Book Trust is pleased to announce that it has purchased the Skye-based publishing company Maclean Press, including the stock of several important and attractive books on island themes which complement our own titles. We are offering many of these books, along with some of our own, at greatly reduced prices - for details see Publications - Special Prices more
2008 EVENTS EXTRAVAGANZA FROM THE ISLANDS BOOK TRUST
This year’s programme of events organised by The Islands Book Trust is more than simply ‘bigger and better than ever before’ – it is a veritable extravaganza of over 20 talks, conferences, and visits to islands which should have something for everyone interested in the history of the Hebrides and further afield
Introducing the programme, Book Trust Chairman John Randall said:
‘We have tried to get a good blend of speakers from the islands and from the outside, from local communities and from the academic world. The subjects under discussion range from early Christianity in Ness to the Lewis Chemical Works. We have also aimed to combine old favourites, like visiting the spectacular Shiant Islands, with something new – and this year we hope to reach St Kilda, and the Monachs. We have particularly expanded our programme of events in Uist, and are holding another conference in Skye. Our events are open to everyone, but we would encourage as many people as possible to join the Book Trust – this entitles you to reductions at events, and also brings you a regular newsletter with full details and reports on all our events, publications, and other activities. We are not a learned society, but an inclusive organisation where everyone interested in the history of the islands will find a warm welcome.’
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