United Kingdom Books

This was our most used guidebook on a recent trip to Scotland. It is divided into a vast range of categories (including recommended places to stay and/or eat, interesting sights, hikes...) which are numbered and referenced on regional maps. The author also uses a check system to rate what he considers to be the most exceptional and unique. Wherever you might find yourself, you can check the map to see the recommendations for everything in that area (especially useful when you're on the road and looking for a place to eat). Our only complaint is that many items were included in more than one category with slightly different information in each listing - which results in numerous numbers for the same item on the maps. In spite of a few typos, we highly recommend this savvy and informative guide.

We have used this guide extensively in our many visits to Scotland. It's a little confusing to get the organizational structure but once you get it, it's a great guidebook. Much more info than any regular guidebook. And 95% of the time the descriptions and recommedations are right on. I won't go to Scotland without it.

Purser's large volume offers a broad overview of Scotland's music, from far off pre-history to modern times. Unlike many more specialized works, he incorporates a wide variety of sources and covers Highland as well as Lowland traditions with proper weight and attention given to Gaelic, Latin, Scots, Norse and Welsh. There are many useful illustrations and a detailed bibliography, making it very useful to the researcher. This is a great place to start to understand a rich and diverse history of music of all sorts in Scotland.

Anyone who is doing any kind of reading or research on either traditional or classical music from Scotland should be familiar with this book. Purser outlines how the traditional and classical are related up to present times. He not only gives information on the composers, but also on the performing artists. Interested persons should also explore his radio program on BBC. The book is laid out that it could be read cover to cover or as a resource for looking up information on a specific topic.

Duncan Bruce has done it again! I really enjoyed his first book, The Mark Of The Scots. It appears that Bruce is establishing himself as a leading authority in Scottish achievements. This new book consists of an elegantly written and remarkably well researched collection of essays. The Scottish 100 is definitely a must have for history buffs and Scottish enthusiasts alike!

a highly informative, entertainingly and elegantly written overview of some notable Scots. In the age of "Black" centered television, minority based social programs and other unabashed celebrations of racial or genetic pride, it is refreshing to those of us from Scottish stock to read pridefully of our own rich heritage. For the record, I'm for celebrating all cultures deemed worthy of exceptional accomplishments.

Anglo and Celtic-phobes BEWARE! Our little nation has generated quite a few feisty geniuses and raucous rebels.

Alexander Broadie is Professor of Logic and Rhetoric at Glasgow University- a chair once occupied by Adam Smith author of "Wealth of Nations". This book, "The Scottish Enlightenment", written for the general reader, is a great treatise on a most astonishing period of Scottish history during the 18th century. Broadie writes; "that what gave the Scottish Enlightenment its character as a distinct historical movement was the complex set of relations with a group of geniuses and other immensely creative people living in each others intellectual pockets. Broadie writes about the leading Scottish luminaries in the fields of science, philosophy, history, economics, and the arts. Men such as Hume, Smith, Reid, Ferguson and others ideas had an immense influence on the great thinkers of Europe as well as our founding fathers here in America.

The term "Enlightenment" suggests emergence from darkness. There are two essential features of the enlightenment. First, a demand that people think for themselves. You do not take ideas on faith but you inquire study and observe for yourself. Second, social virtue of tolerance of ideas. The state and church cannot punish one for their ideas. This allows literati of men to meet and exchange ideas on a plethora of subjects and to spread these ideas through their writings so that other literati in Europe can comment and react to them. Thinking becomes a civil activity with ideas in the public domain. These men love liberty and are looking to build a better society for humanity. They believe that if morality is about anything it is about - protecting the civilized values vested in society. No wonder these men had a great influence on our founding fathers!

If you are truly interested in a classical education put this book on the top of your reading list! I recommend this book for anyone interested in philosophy, history, political science, and history of America's founding era.

As a person of mildly above average intelligence and a very broad range of interests, I often have friends suggest that I should try out for Jeopardy. My standard [and honest] response [regardless of whether the comment was meant as a compliment or an insult] is that I have incredibly large gaps in my knowledge and I'd probably stink at Jeopardy. Alexander Broadie and his scholarly AND entertaining book The Scottish Enlightenment came to rescue me from one of my more embarrassing knowledge gaps. You'd've figured a person with some Scottish blood in his veins and who teaches at a high school that has a Scottish theme and a Highlander as a mascot would know a whole bunch about the pivotal period in history know as the Scottish Enlightenment?! The knowledge gap surfaced when I read Jack Repcheck's recent biography of James Hutton [The Man Who Found Time]. I researched the available literature on the Scottish Enlightenment and Broadie's book appeared to have the qualities needed to plug my knowledge gap. Written for the interested reader, The Scottish Enlightenment was scholarly enough to give me the short course that I wanted, but interesting and idiosyncratic enough to avoid reading like a textbook. It left me feeling quite satisfied about my knowledge of the Scottish Enlightenment and, like any good book, left me with a few questions to explore further [the connection between the Scottish Enlightenment and the American Revolution - enquiring minds want to know!]. I highly recommend Alexander Broadie's book to anyone with an interest in history, Scotland, the Enlightenment, or the Scottish Enlightenment.

I found this book extremely useful in better understanding the screenwriting process. Even though I have no interest in being a screenwriter, as a film/television buff, I found the book very informative in anaylizing script construction, the ingredients of a quality script, and understanding the relationship of the scriptwriter to the producer, the director, cast, etc. I took a screenwriting course in college, and the text book used in the class was totally useless compared to what Pat Silver-Lasky has written. Every aspect of the scriptwriting process is covered in this book, and the material is logically presented in language that is understandable to even the novice scriptwriter. Nevertheless, even season scriptwriters will find this book useful as well. Ms. Silver-Lasky draws from her personal experience as a successful scriptwriter, instructor, and film enthuasist to create this must have read. At less than $15, one cannot go wrong purchasing this book.

This is a great book for anyone who is interested in screenwriting either as a hobby or as a professional. It gives a straightforward and easy to understand explanation of how to develop your initial idea into a fully blown screenplay. It also includes antidotes, stories and references by the author who has an excellent insight into writing for this medium from her own experience. Pat Silver-Lasky makes you feel that you are being taught on a one-to-one basis, which is something that is rarely achieved from books in this category. Go out, buy it, read it, then start to write that screenplay you have always had at the back of your mind.

More of a book on the life of an archeologist than the discoveries themselves it nevertheless makes for an interesting read. I think many will be surprised, as I was, at the various facet involved in the life of an archeologist. In that way is it is a very generous book. A tale worth telling.

First the negative, minor though it might be. The book is really rather misnamed. If anything, while Seahenge is a captivating title, it is way too limited. While the author discusses the wood circle at Holmes, he does so only briefly in the introduction and over a couple of chapters at the end of the book. What the main body of the volume contains is a very pleasant recitation of a life spent working in Neolithic and Early Bronze age archaeology in England.

For those looking for a more thorough description of the work and story of the remains at Holmes, it would probably be better to look to the journals. A visit to the local reference library for a bibliography will probably come up with what you want, and large public and certainly most university libraries will carry many of the journal entries on your list. These are likely to be quite technical, though, so be forewarned. More popular accounts might be available in journals like Archaeology, Archaeology Odyssey, or Scientific American.

Next, the positives. And they are major positives. First and foremost, the author has a very nice narrative style. It's readable and friendly, and while laced with some technical terms and ideas, these are usually fully explained without being labored. Furthermore, the author shares his knowledge of his field in practice so the reader has a first person, first hand account of an archaeologist at work. At one point Dr. Pryor quotes from his site diary, letting one in on his personal thoughts and experiences at a crucial point of his work at Seahenge.

Probably more than anything, the book offers a glimpse of what it means to be an archaeologist. In particular the reader learns how one goes about acquiring ones credentials, what the management of daily routine on the site is like, under what conditions one works and lives, what job opportunities there are, and how these effect ones personal lifestyle.

If one is inclined to follow up the information on archaeology and the archaeologist, the bibliography provides a good deal of material, some on specific topics from the journals and some on more general topics from books, most from 1980 to the present and some of historical interest from the 1960s and later.

I would definitely recommend this book for a school library serving students from forth grade and later. The book would be comprehendible to good readers of whatever age and gives a clear account of an archaeologist's life and what one has to learn to become one.

A sly fictional account of the good queen's holiday in Jamaica and her improbable adventures there. Lavishly illustrated with whimsical drawings of the black-clad queen kicking up her heels. A delight.

I was intrigued to read an obituary of Routh in the Economist (June 17th, 2008) and wasn't surprised to learn of his reputation as a eternal prankster. He was, it seems, star of the British version of Candid Camera in the UK. In later years he moved to Jamaica and took up painting. The Economist obit described his style thus:

"He painted nuns driving racing cars and flying balloons, the pope windsurfing, Mona Lisa naked or smoking. His favourite subject was the aged Queen Victoria, on an imaginary trip to Jamaica in 1871, doing the hula-hoop or the limbo dance, riding a zebra and driving dodgem cars. He could have found a more prosaic explanation for the missing three months of her reign. But he preferred, as ever, the shock of the absurd, and the sense of the detached voyeur intruding on private space."

Endearing illustrations of a tiny, white veiled Queen Victoria cavorting with courtiers the color of midnight accompany a tongue-in-cheek description of a monarch on a risque holiday adventure. This charming picture book is a wonderful addition for anyone who collects memorabilia from Jamaica.

This book is a well-written, well-informed esoteric guide to the stories of Arthur, his Round Table companions, and the Holy Grail in British and Celtic legend. I found it a beautiful combination of scholarship, psychological and spiritual insight, and intelligent speculation about some of the more ancient origins and meanings of the many stories we have inherited that form part of the Arthurian romances. Anyone who is interested in this tradition, and the mysteries that lie behind it, will find this a fascinating and illuminating commentary. Interpreting ancient myth is a high art because symbolic images reveal their meanings only to those who are prepared to personally engage with the symbols and the entire mystical tradition that supports them. Gareth Knight is an able guide.

This is absolutley one of the best books of its kind available today!Maybe the best book of all times!This book covers a huge amount of esoteric material that is extremely purposeful in todays fast changing times.If you are serious seeker of esoteric wisdom then stick with this book and you will learn lots.The arthurian legends truly are works of faery art to show us our evolutionary way forward as individuals and as a group.These legends show us the proper way of evolutionary developement and they show us what happens when we lose our way.The information in this book along with serious study of the arthurian legends will lead to the rememberance of who you really are and you will be amazed at what you find.The information contained within these pages is priceless and you could spend lifetimes integrating the wisdom and knowledge found within.

My decision to publish Satow's outgoing semi-official letters back to his political masters in London from both Japan and China together was deliberate in that I feel they should be viewed as a continuum, even though it makes for quite a weighty tome. There certainly are numerous references to China in the letters from Japan, and vice versa. Indeed the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) went on while Satow was serving as Britain's envoy in China.

The importance of these letters is that they included private observations which Satow himself deemed inappropriate for the official despatches. For example: "Okuma [Shigenobu]'s resignation is a misfortune. All his ideas were Engl. [English] & he was very well disposed. I was on the point of settling with him several outstanding questions, & now I shall have to begin all over again." (Satow to Lord Salisbury, 3 November 1898) The frustration is clear enough!

Ian Ruxton, editor of The Diaries of Sir Ernest Satow, British Envoy in Peking (1900-06), Vol. 1, The Correspondence of Sir Ernest Satow, British Minister in Japan, 1895-1900 - Volume One and several other books related to Sir Ernest Satow. (For the full list click on my name under the title at the top of this page.)

Diplomats are rather like policemen, they are never truly off-duty, as their private lives are so entwined in their official public duties. An invite to tea was and is often only ostensibly to do with seed cake and Earl Gray, and was and is in reality, a chance to talk business, but informally. On occasions, one of the parties may hope to glean and gain and win leverage through catching their opposite number unawares, much the way an off duty detective will play pool and darts with the local most wanted. This latest installment of the written letters, memos, notes, diary entries and even minor musings, show that ( as the title suggests ) diplomats do have a life away from officialdom; but not that far - and so decorum in the main, has to be maintained, even in the written word. This collection of letters lets us in on the private thoughts of Satow, on his colleagues, on opposite numbers, whether friendly or hostile, and even his surprisingly less than flattering opinions on the wives of some colleagues. This volume, together with Ian Ruxton's other works on this great man, show the man in both suit and plus fours, in pinstripe and flannel, and does so here via the comparatively freer, less shackled semi-official writings therein. Another great installment from a foremost expert ( perhaps the foremost expert ) on Anglo-Asian diplomacy in the late Victorian / Edwardian eras in general, and Sir Ernest Satow in particular. Very well done yet again. John Haines

If you are a fan of the British Invasion or early rock music and gear this book is for you. Dozens of great stories from the early pioneers of British rock. But this book also includes a healthy dose of info about many of Britain's top session aces-including one Jimmy Page. Bass players aren't ignored either. This book is alot of fun to read and is loaded with many great photos as well.

Fantastic book with tales stories and information on early British Rock Bands and their original sound.Great forword by Hank Marvin of The Shadows,stories of Big Jim Sullivan,Vic Flick "James Bond Theme" Paul Kossoff. Highly recommended by my PALS,Elliot Easton and Charlie Watkins.