Scotland Books

Unlike most autobiographies of WWII, this one was written before the War was even over. It was written sometime between Scapa Flow, and Prien's loss in action in 1941. If you are looking for a blow by blow account of convoy battles, or even the raid into Scapa Flow, then you will be disappointed. BUT, if you are looking for a fascinating glimpse into the German mindset at the beginning of the 1940's, this is the book for you.

The book spends relatively little time discussing Prien's adventures in WWII, but concentrates on his coming of age as a 16 year old cabin boy in the Merchant Marine and Labor Corps.

Prien's memoir has more in common with those of Herzen, Tolstoy, and Gogol, than those of Doenitz, Werner, or Guderian. Extolling the Germanic virtures of loyalty, honor, and perseverence in the face of hardship, Prien describes how his traditional upbringing made him a great man and war hero.

And, on page 2, he is already talking about black-eyed, pointy-nosed merchants....

A must read for the student of German social history. I wonder if this is the basis for the u-boat captain in "Cat and Mouse"?

What a hidden gem this book turned out to be! It appears from the outside to be just a run of the mill naval warfare book, but it is actually one of those rare biographical accounts that leave you feeling like you understand a man on a higher level. The book is full of honest emotion, and gives you a very insightful portrait of the desperation of pre-Nazi Germany. It leaves no question about why the National Socialists were so supported.

My favorite passage from the book, after a young man commits suicide: "We examined his locker. There was a bundle of letters from a girl, the last of them three days old. She wrote, "I have been waiting for four years and now I can't wait any longer. You can't get a job and I will be an old woman by the time we can marry..." It was always the same. Want, misery, despair and the future merciless and grey. You had to be tough to stick it."

Tragic..

This is, and will always be, one of my favorite books. Gunther Prien is a hero.

In the year 2320, Darius Calhoun is President of the United States. The men of his family have been appointed as presidents for generations; ever since Michael Calhoun solved the world's problems. Due to fatal diseases caused by pollution, in addition to, overpopulation and sexually transmitted diseases, the citizens of Earth now live in domed cities where sex has been outlawed and no one experiences emotion of any kind...except the rebels who live outside the domes who prefer to act more like humans than mind-numbed robots.

But the cost is high--they die at alarming rates from cancer and a new strain of AIDS that kills within months; not to mention that they have to grow their food in greenhouses because the soil is contaminated.

Darius is horrified when he is suddenly plucked out of his own time period and dropped into 14th century Scotland. Not only are the conditions unsanitary, he's expected to advise Robert the Bruce, the self-proclaimed King of Scotland, on war tactics, even though war hasn't existed in his time for over two hundred years.

Lara Macgregor, the oldest daughter of the lord of the castle, is a big help to Darius and they quickly become friends. But Lara wants more than friendship--she wants a mate. Darius knows that means having sex and he sure isn't about to do something that he's been brought up to believe is wrong. Funny thing is his body and mind have begun to change since Darius arrived and for the first time in his life he begins to feel and to want things he never did before.

When six other time travelers appear in 14th century Scotland they know it must be for a reason--especially when many of them knew each other at some period in time. As the war for independence in Scotland gains momentum, Darius and the other time travelers are thrust into the tumultous events that unfold and try to uncover why they are all there in the first place. When one of the lord's most trusted knights becomes an enemy, everyone at Castle Macgregor is put in grave danger...particularly Darius, who this knight sees as a rival for beautiful, spunky Lara's affections.

I can honestly say that I have never read a book like "The Ultimate Passage" ever before, but after reading it I am determined to read the rest of the books in this saga.

Since I hadn't read the first three books--"Charmed Passage", "Destined Passage" and "Doomed Passage"--I couldn't possibly have known all that transpired between the six time travelers that dropped into 14th century Scotland. Hackensmith provided just enough detail so that I could piece together their pasts, but left out plenty that would keep readers of the past three books from getting bored learning what they already knew.

Each character is so well-developed that I swear in a different place and time I could have known him and her. To watch Darius put in a position where he was forced to call into question all that he had been taught made him a sympathetic character, but the reader also encourages him to reach out for Lara's love and all it entails.

A perfect mix of historical events and people tossed together with several lively fictional characters makes "The Ultimate Passage" a must read. A complex and riveting plot is expertly delivered by Hackensmith. And Birch must be commended for her thorough research that places the reader into 14th century Scotland and the time of knights and chivalry.

My only disappointment is in knowing that this is the end of "The Passage Saga".

Action, adventure, and most of all romance make this a book you won't be able to put down. "The Ultimate Passage" by Jean Hackensmith and Kathe Birch is every romance lover's dream.

Usually the books in a saga get less and less interesting with each successive one. Not so with this saga! I don't know how the authors did it, but THE ULTIMATE PASSAGE, the FOURTH book in the "Passage" saga outdoes all of the others. In fact, each book in the saga gets progressively better. I definitely have a new "favorite" author (or maybe I should say "authors" since the trilogy is co-authored.) THE ULTIMATE PASSAGE though is, as the title suggests, the ULTIMATE in time travel romance. This book should be on the best seller lists and I really don't understand why it isn't. Imagine taking a guy from the 24th century -- where they live in domed cities and no longer have sex -- and sticking him back in the 1300's where he has to live in a drafty old castle! The authors interpretation of his horror when he's expected to have sex with his new bride is both realistic and humorous. A wonderful read. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

This book is a great tool to anyone newly interested in the Bard. It has helped me greatly in learning how to appreciate Robert Burns works.

This book is essential to understanding the literary giant that Burns was and the keen insight he had about mankind.This is the primar of the multitude of books devoted to him.

This book won the 1985 Spring Book Award for Literature from the Scottish Arts Council, and one can see why. A wide-ranging, enthusiastic and scholarly work, it covers a great deal of ground with a surprising amount of detail for its size. Although some of the archaeological conclusions have changed in the intervening thirty years, this is still a good introduction to the period and good value for money. Topics include: Roman Britain, the Picts, St. Columba, Adomnan, Vikings, the orgins of medieval Scotland, and the conquest of the southern uplands.

The author shows an impressive ability to look at the larger picture while not losing sight of details, an ability which allows him to combine seeming isolated facts into interesting combinations. Whether or not you agree with all of his conclusions, you will find many that are thought-provoking. An example is his dating of the final collapse of the British kingdom of Rheged by the series of entries in the Irish Annals of Ulster regarding the presence of roving bands of British warriors in Ireland between 682 and 709. Highly recommended.

My B.A. degree dealt with the growth and development of Scottish Gaelic society and culture, and I used no book more than this one. It is challenging and accessible, and provides many reference materials such as chronological and geaneological tables. The bibilography is also outstanding. The book has been described as a 'galloping, rip-roaring' work and I wholly agree. Its greatest strength is its presentation of detailed arguements in a way which both makes a coherent point and invites further study. More than a survey, but not a specialist-only text by any means. Its counterpart for Irish history would be "The Course of Irish History" edited by T.W. Moody and F.X. Martin (Dublin: Mercier) 1994. Both are invaluable.

Websters Leap was a great book. It is about a girl named Jill who is staying at her dad's house for the summer. She goes on her brother's computer and is sent back in time. I love when Jill goes back in time,it is filled with fun and excitement. I never wanted to put the book down.

This book is great! I love reading about timetravel. The plot is totally unpredictable. I look forward to reading more from this author

The book is excellent! What is missing is the true history of my own clan The Honourable Clan Ranald of Lochaber.

However, now that I am back after 156 years in limbo, I aim to correct that position fairly soon. Meantime for any of your readers interested they can log on to www.Ranald Alasdair MacDonald of Keppoch and they will get a very pleasent surprise.That is for all of your readers interested in Highland history.

Cepaidh

This book is a great book if you are at all interested in the mythology of the West Highlands. Fitzroy MacLean retells the stories with wit and style and the illustrations are fantastic.

I bought this book after reading Malcolm Archibald's prize winning 'Whales for the Wizard'. 'Whalehuners' is about the men who hunted for whales, not about the industry. it is not a dry historical account, but is packed with characters, smuggling Greenlandmen, Inuit brides, captain's wives who took command, women who were left behind and men who suffered great hardship. Even the children are included, the boys who stowed away.
At times I cried at the suffering of these men, and now understand their lives. This book is evocative and has amazing personal insight; unusual for a man.
Cannot recommend it too highly.

Written from primary sources including some never before viewed, Malcolm Archibald's 'Whalehunters' reveals the heart and soul of the Arctic whaling industry. No dry review of an industry, this book shows how the men lived, worked and felt, as well as revealing how thier women thought, wept and waited. This book is a classic.

Most readers know Reginald Hill for the Pascoe and Dalziel series that has established the author as one of the best mystery writers of the past 20 years. "Who Guards a Prince" is one of Hill's early, pre-Pascoe/Dalziel stories that thankfully has recently been republished. This is a literate, engaging and at times, terrifying story of conspiracy and blackguardness that leaves you thinking that it all is quite plausible in this day and age. The book's hero is Douglas McHarg, a tough police inspector who has hit some pretty tough times because of his nonconformist approach to his profession (and life in general). While this might sound uncomfortably familiar--how many of this type inhabit the average mystery/crime story?--McHarg is an original in many ways. But the book's strongest point is the intricate plot line that author lays out that is sophisticated and never insulting to the reader's intelligence. The characters here are also wonderfully drawn--large, but not overly so.
This is one of the best mysteries I've read in a long time. Highly recommended.

If you are familiar with the Dalziel and Pascoe books this book will really surprise you. It will also frighten you. What if it really could happen? The heroes and the villains are very believable. It makes for a true thriller. I enjoyed it.

Scottish folklore is brought to life, as Mollie Hunter gives a novel-length treatment to the stories of Colin Grant, a man beset by the magical Grollican.

The Grant family works a small piece of land in Scotland, and Colin soon learns to his detriment that his temper makes him the perfect target of the Grollican, a lumbering invisible beast that delights in making itself a nuisance. As Colin tries scheme after scheme to rid himself of the Grollican, his young son Ian tries to befriend the wicked one who has come into their midst.

This book is, in a word, awesome. Every chapter will delight a young reader by introducing an element of the supernatural or containing a big action secquence. I've never read another book like this, which gives such a wonderful modern voice to such ancience scottish sensibilities. The closest I can come for comparison's sake is "The Last Unicorn," by Peter Beagle. But this book is even better because it never surrenders to the impulse to let the modern plot overshadow the magic of the fairy-tale roots.

I am shocked to see that this charmer is so unknown. If you are looking for something different to give a young reader, something that will engage them and given them a captivating glimpse into another world, this is the book for you.

Colin Grant is a Highlands forester with a loving wife, three fine sons, a kind nature--and a fiery temper that nearly ruins his life. His quick temper attracts the Grollican, an Otherworldly monster known as "the wicked one" that delights in playing malicious pranks on him in order to watch him fly into a rage. The angrier Colin gets, the more trouble the Grollican makes for him and his family, until it is almost impossible for them to live in peace. One by one Colin tries various methods of getting rid of the Grollican: ignoring it, hunting it with his three dogs, even confronting the fairy folk themselves. The Grollican retaliates with all the tricks it can devise, Colin goes after it again, and the situation continues to escalate until Colin is forced to face an unpleasant truth: if he doesn't learn to control his temper, he's never going to get rid of the Grollican. Now the real battle begins...

I have never read anything by Mollie Hunter that I didn't like. That state of affairs continues with "The Wicked One." Colin is a likable and sympathetic character, easy to identify with (come on, admit it: if someone smashed up your garage, wouldn't you start shouting?). His wife Anna and youngest son Ian are similarly believable and enjoyable to read about, and even the Grollican has its moments in the limelight. One of the things I especially like about Mollie Hunter's books is the way she manages to convey both the attraction and the danger of the fairy folk. No cute harmless sprites or noble lofty elves here--these are an alien people, neither good nor evil because they do not exist within the framework of those concepts, capricious and cruel, or kind, as the mood takes them. Colin's dealings with them are more unsettling than any of his wrangling with the Grollican.

I enjoyed this book very much. It contains edges of horror, a good deal of humor, fascinating characters, and a message that does not become moralistic. Entertaining to read (and re-read, and re-read), "The Wicked One" is a book I definitely recommend.

I really enjoyed the book. It was excellent. Nina put alot of effort into it. It had lots of adventure.

This was one of Nina Bawden's best books. Although I note above that the reading level is 9-12, I read it as a young adult and was tremendously touched by Perdita. Now, many years later, I can almost recall the "seeing through walls" chant.