The remote archipelago which lies off the north-west coast of Scotland boasts a huge range of contrasting & spectacular l&- andseascapes. Lewis is austere, with a featureless peatland core, bounded by dramatic sea cliffs, whilst neighbouring Harris is extraordinarilyrugged but fringed with stunning unspoilt beaches. The Uists are characterised by gentle fertile machair lands, & Barra has a more brutallandscape carved from ancient gnarled rock. But these islands have one thing in common: they were all built from the most ancient rocks in Britain
- Lewisian gneiss, which reaches back almost to the beginning of geological time. In this book Alan Mc Kirdy explores these islands, together with the volcanic rocks that build the outposts of Rockall, St Kilda & the Shiants, tracing their extraordinary journey through time & across the globe.
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This is a guidebook to 44 great sea kayak trips around the archipelago of the Outer Hebrides, from Berneray to the Butt of Lewis & including St Kilda. As well as describing 44 great kayaking journeys, this book presents all the navigational & tidal information a sea kayaker needs on this magnificent section of coast. This means that it can also be used as a kayaker`s `pilot` for any journey they might wish to undertake in this area. It follows the successful format of other Pesda Press sea kayaking guides, presenting the information in a user-friendly fashion & making lavish use of maps & colour photographs. ...

” An extraordinary achievement in natural history & science. But it`s so artfully written you forget it`s a scientific treatise & find yourself reading it with sheer pleasure.”
- Provincetown Advocate Dorothy Sterling explores the fascinating plants & animals that inhabit the peninsulas & islands of the East Coast known as the Outer Lands. With vibrant original drawings by Winifred Lubell & a new foreword by natural historian Robert Finch, The Outer Lands is a lively, lovingly observed biography of place.
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On a moonlit night in 1903, a mysterious young woman flees alone across the Canadian wilderness, one quick step ahead of her pursuers. Mary Boulton is nineteen years old, half mad, & widowed
- by her own h&. Tearing through the forest with dogs howling in the distance, she is desperate, her nerves burning, & she is certain of one thing only
- that her every move is being traced. Two red-headed brothers, rifles across their backs, lurch close behind her: monstrous figures, identical in every way, with the predatory look of hyenas. She has murdered their brother, & their cold lust for vengeance is unswerving. As the widow scrambles to stay ahead of them, the burden of her existence disintegrates into a battle in which the dangers of her own mind become more menacing than the dangers of the night. Along the way, the steely outlaw encounters a changing cast of misfits & eccentrics. Some, like the recluse known as ` The Ridgerunner`, provide a brief respite from her solitude; others, like the Reverend Bonnycastle, offer support only to reveal that they too have their own demons raging inside. As she is plunged further away from civilisation, her path from retribution to redemption slowly unfurls. A startling transformation of the classic western narrative, The Outlander is the haunting tale of one young woman`s deliberate journey deep into the wild.

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When Amy Liptrot returns to Orkney after more than a decade away, she is drawn back to the Outrun on the sheep farm where she grew up. Approaching the land that was once home, memories of her childhood merge with the recent events that have set her on this journey. Amy was shaped by the cycle of the seasons, birth & death on the farm, & her father`s mental illness, which were as much a part of her childhood as the wild, carefree existence on Orkney. But as she grew up, she longed to leave this remote life. She moved to London & found herself in a hedonistic cycle. Unable to control her drinking, alcohol gradually took over. Now thirty, she finds herself washed up back home on Orkney, standing unstable at the cliff edge, trying to come to terms with what happened to her in London. Spending early mornings swimming in the bracingly cold sea, the days tracking Orkney`s wildlife
- puffins nesting on sea stacks, arctic terns swooping close enough to feel their wings
- & nights searching the sky for the Merry Dancers, Amy slowly makes the journey towards recovery from addiction. The Outrun is a beautiful, inspiring book about living on the edge, about the pull between island & city, & about the ability of the sea, the l&, the wind & the moon to restore life & renew hope.

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` Masterly.. .gloriously well-written & deeply imagined` Jim Crace Jeannie is nineteen when the world changes, Kip only fourteen. The sudden accident that robs them of their mother leaves them adrift, with only their father to guide them. Jeannie seeks escape in work & later marriage to a man whose social connections propel her into an unfamiliar world of wealth & politics. Ill-equipped & unprepared, Jeannie finds comfort where she can. Meanwhile Kip`s descent into a life of petty crime is halted only when he volunteers for the Marines. By 1968, the conflict in Vietnam is at its height, & with the anti-war movement raging at home, Jeannie & Kip are swept along by events larger than themselves, driven by disillusionment to commit unforgiveable acts of betrayal that will leave permanent scars. The Outside Lands is the story of people caught in the slipstream of history, how we struggle in the face of loss to build our world, & how easily & with sudden violence it can be swept away. With extraordinary skill & accuracy, Hannah Kohler takes us from 1960s California to Vietnam, capturing what it means to live through historic times. This powerful debut novel announces Kohler as a remarkable new literary talent. ...

` Astonishing
- jagged, fresh & startlingly alive` Daily Mail Jeannie is nineteen when the world changes, Kip only fourteen.
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Who does this footprint belong to? What is this worm up to? What is the name of this tree? Even if we live in the city, nature is still all around us: clouds & stars, trees & flowers, rocks & beaches, birds, reptiles or mammals. What are we waiting for? Let`s jump off the couch & begin exploring! Created in collaboration with a team of Portuguese experts, this book, which won the coveted Bologna Regazzi award, aims to arouse your curiosity about fauna, flora & other aspects of the natural world. It

Includes:: suggestions for activities & many illustrations to help the whole family get started, leave the house, & go out to discover
- or simply admire
- the amazing world that exists outdoors.



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` My mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don`t know.` In The Outsider (1942), his classic existentialist novel, Camus explores the alienation of an individual who refuses to conform to social norms. Meursault, his anti-hero, will not lie. When his mother dies, he refuses to show his emotions simply to satisfy the expectations of others. & when he commits a random act of violence on a sun-drenched beach near Algiers, his lack of remorse compounds his guilt in the eyes of society & the law. Yet he is as much a victim as a criminal. Albert Camus` portrayal of a man confronting the absurd, & revolting against the injustice of society, depicts the paradox of man`s joy in life when faced with the `tender indifference` of the world. Sandra Smith`s translation, based on close listening to a recording of Camus reading his work aloud on French radio in 1954, sensitively renders the subtleties & dream-like atmosphere of L` Etranger. Albert Camus (1913-1960), French novelist, essayist & playwright, is one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. His most famous works include The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), The Plague (1947), The Just (1949), The Rebel (1951) & The Fall (1956). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, & his last novel, The First Man, unfinished at the time of his death, appeared in print for the first time in 1994, & was published in English soon after by Hamish Hamilton. Sandra Smith was born & raised in New York City & is a Fellow of Robinson College, University of Cambridge, where she teaches French Literature & Language. She has won the French American Foundation Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prize, as well as the PEN Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize. ...

The Outsider is an enduring classic of existential writing by Albert Camus. ` Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don`t know.` Meursault is different. He will not lie. He will not pretend. He is true to himself. So when his mother dies & he is unmoved, he refuses to do the proper thing & grieve. Returning to Algiers after the funeral, he carries on life as usual until he becomes involved in a violent murder. In court, it is clear that Meursault`s guilt or innocence will not be determined by what he did or did not do. He is on trial for being different
- an outsider. ” The story of a beach murder, one of the century`s classic novels. Blood & sand”. (J.G. Ballard). ”A compelling, dreamlike fable”. (Guardian). Albert Camus was born in Algeria in 1913. He studied philosophy in Algiers & then worked in Paris as a journalist. He was one of the intellectual leaders of the Resistance movement &, after the War, established his international reputation as a writer. His books include The Plague, The Just & The Fall, & he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. Camus was killed in a road accident in 1960.
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