There are 95 inhabited Scottish Islands with a total population of less than 100,000 people. These islands fall into six local authority areas; Shetland, Orkney, Western Isles, all of which have their own councils, plus Highland, Argyll and Bute and North Ayrshire which are mainland councils with island communities. The Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland have cultural and historical ties with Scandinavia. Islay, The southernmost of the Altantic islands, lies within sight of Rathlin island and the coast of Antrim. The Western Isles have the largest concentration of Gaelic speakers in Scotland.

Hebridean Island Hopping: A Guide for the Independent Traveller The concept of island hopping conjures up visions of freedom and adventure, whether it is on the sunny Greek Isles or in the lush surrounds of the Caribbean. The Western Isles offer Scotland's unique take - large skies, crashing seas, beautiful beaches and a diverse landscape. Each island has a unique and individual character, landscape and history which have attracted and intrigued travellers and visitors for hundreds of years. "Hebridean Island Hopping" covers everything needed to get the most from a visit to any of the Western Isles, all packed into one handy volume. Illustrated throughout with photographs, maps, and ferry points with a comprehensive index, this is an eminently practical, portable and essential guide for the independent traveller. Previously published by Polygon, this is a completely rewritten and updated version of a bestselling book. The islands covered include: Outer Hebrides - Lewis; Great; Bernera; Shiant isles; Harris; Scalpay; Taransay; St Kilda; North Uist; Berneray; Baleshare; Benbecula; Grimsay; South Uist; Eriskay; Barra; Vatersay; and Mingulay/Berneray. Inner Hebrides include: Skye; Raasay; Rona; Summer Isles; Isle Martin; Rum; Eigg; Canna; Muck; Coll; Tiree; Mull; Iona; Ulva; Staffa; Treshnish; Earraid; Lismore; Kerrera; Seil; Easdale; Luing; Shuna; Colonsay/Oronsay; Jura; Islay; Sanda; Gigha; Bute; Cumbrae; Arran; Holy Island; and Ailsa Craig.

Scottish Isles: Skye and the Western... Isles. This is a comprehensive guide to the Western Isles, which include Skye, Lewis, Harris, Uist, Iona, Jura, Islay and Arran. It presents visitors with a rich variety of terrain and wildlife from the stark beauty of the Cuillin mountains of Skye to the raging seas of the Butt of Lewis or the palm trees of Arran. This guide gives information on the best walks and climbs, castles and blackhouses, the history and culture, the liveliest music and folk festivals and ceilidhs and the finest food and drink. Scottish Islands.

The Islands (Pocket Mountains) This guide features 40 circular hill routes in Skye and many other islands off the west coast of Scotland. From the windswept machair of the Outer Hebrides to the sawtooth ridge of the Black Cuillin, the islands always enchant and inspire. The routes in this volume take in many great hills on Arran, Islay, Jura, Mull, Eigg, Rum, Skye, Raasay, Harris and the Uists. Tour Scottish Islands.

Finlay MacQueen of St.Kilda The almost legendary Finlay MacQueen (1862-1941) was a man of two worlds: the remote archipelago of St Kilda, a scattering of islands 45 miles west of Uist, in the Outer Hebrides, and the much gentler landscape of Fife where he spent his last few years. The book also deals with a significant chapter in Scottish social history, the last days of a 1000-year-old tradition of remote island life. In 1930, 36 islanders, the remnants of a proud, self-reliant population, were evacuated to the mainland.

Scotland's Coast: A Photographer's... Journey. Following the success of his best-selling First Light, Joe Cornish has now turned his attention to the magnificent scenery of Scotland's 6,000-mile coastline. He has travelled from the Mull of Galloway in the south to the tip of Unst in the Shetlands, the northernmost point in the British Isles, and from remote St Kilda out in the Atlantic to the Sands of Forvie National Nature Reserve on the North Sea to capture the enormous variety of scenery that characterises the Scottish seacoast. Some of the sites he has photographed, like St Kilda or the sandstone peaks overlooking Loch Torridon, belong to the National Trust for Scotland, but many others are privately owned; some, like the majestic Cuillins on Skye, are well-known to tourists, others are hidden coves or remote sea stacks that few visitors will ever have seen. Whatever the subject, be it a wide Hebridean vista or fragmentary patterns of ice on a frozen beach, Joe Cornish, with his artist's eye and his dramatic use of light, helps us to look at it afresh and reveals new and unsuspected beauties. In the text which accompanies his photographs he explains the aspects of each particular landscape that made it special to him, its geology, its flora, its history or its associations. The result is a stunning book book which will delight Cornish's legion of admirers and all those who have found enchantment on Scotland's wonderful coastline. Tour Scottish Islands.

The Discovery of the Hebrides: Voyagers... to the Western Isles, 1745-1883. This history tells of the exploration and exploitation of the Hebrides, using records of 18th and 19th century visitors. Travellers recorded include the scientist Joseph Banks, who revealed Fingal's Cave to the public, and Johnson and Boswell, who nearly drowned off Ardnamurchan and whose writings encouraged many others to discover the Hebrides for themselves, including Sir Walter Scott and Queen Victoria. Dr Johnson was to observe of the Hebrides that "the state of the mountains and islands is equally unknown as that of Borneo or Sumatra". When Bonnie Prince Charlie landed on Eriskay in 1745, it focused the attention of the English and Lowland Scots on the Hebrides for the first time, changing its way of life forever. The book also includes quotes from the people of the islands, and their poems and songs describing the changes endured by the Gaelic-speaking communities.

Harris in History and Legend This is the story of the communities and people of Harris in history and legend. One of the largest and most famous of all the islands of Scotland, astonishingly little has been written about the varied and eventful life of Harris, perhaps because the island has been so self contained. Including much material on the now deserted islands around Harris, including new information on St Kilda, Bill Lawson's book is the first modern account of Harris and those who have shaped its history over thousands of years.

North Uist in History and Legend Like all the Hebrides, North Uist has a fascinating history, and a landscape scattered with historic sites, from Neolithic burial chambers and Iron Age forts, though medieval churches and battle-sites, to townships forged in the days of kelp trade, and the subsequent traumas of clearance and emigration. Of all the Western Isles, none has closer links with the turbulent history of Clan Donald than North Uist, and stories of their chiefs and battles are linked with sites all through the island, all set in a landscape which is one of the most varied and beautiful in the Hebrides. Bill Lawson has woven a tapestry of stories about the island and its people, drawing on formal recorded history and also the rich tradition of story and song in which the informal history of the people was passed down, but also incorporating many of his personal reminiscences of his travels through the island, to give a unique insight into North Uist and the life of its people through the ages.

Islay (Pevensey Island Guides) The groups of islands off the coast of Scotland hold a strong fascination for the thousands of people who embark on the sea crossing each year. The islands are unique: remote, romantic and often mysterious, they exert a magnetic attraction which draws visitors back again and again. The Hebridean island of Islay lies off the coast of Argyll, linked to the mainland of Scotland by a year-round vehicle ferry. Its varied landscape makes it attractive for hill-walkers, and its long and sometimes bloody history has left plenty of traces in the landscape for amateur archaeologists to explore. Its beaches are pounded by the full power of the Atlantic surf, which has sculpted spectacular cliffs and formed empty miles of sandy strands, where Vikings once beached their longships. The ancestral seat of the medieval Lords of the Isles. Islay is brim full of history, but with a full range of modern services and accommodation for visitors. Famous the world over for its whisky, the spirit of 'the Queen of the Hebrides' lures people back again and again to enjoy its scenery and tranquility. Tour Scottish Islands.

Jura: Island of Deer This work surveys Jura, one of the largest of the Inner Hebrides. The barrenness of Jura's landscape has meant that it has always had a smaller population than its neighbours, and was often overlooked in affairs of the times. However, Jura had its part to play through the centuries and, perhaps because of its isolation, it has a fascinating story to tell of Campbell domination, of the hardships endured by its people and of it contribution to emigration. Tour Scottish Islands.

Argyll and the Western Isles (Exploring... The Monuments of this area are in keeping with a past dominated by the sea. From Skerryvore lighthouse to the mysterious standing stones of Callanish, there is plenty to interest any visitor curious about how people have lived around the dramatic sea-lochs and islands of Scotland’s western seaboard. Tour Scottish Islands.