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Long descriptionIn 1922 at the beginning of a new expedition to the Antarctic, Sir Ernest Shackleton died of a heart attack while his ship,' Quest', was moored in King Edward Cove on the island of South Georgia. At his wife's request he was buried there in the graveyard at Grytviken.Shackleton's famous 'Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expediton' left Bristish waters on August 8th 1914. It is therefore the Centenary of this expedition this year with celebrations being planned to commemorate it.Beverley McLeod tells her story of a young girl's experiences growing up across the harbour from a whaling station on South Georgia in the late 1950s.A six year-old girl arrives at King Edward Point, a settlement of eight houses huddled at the foot of a mountain on the Antarctic island of South Georgia. Around the bay is Grytviken, the most successful land-based whaling station in the world at that time. This is the story of the four years she spent without going to school and largely with only herself for company. It is also the story of the whaling industry and of the people whose livelihoods depended upon it.It is a story of love and fear, the light and dark side of such a beautiful but harsh environment and the impact it had on her and on her family.Beverley's book will be of interest and appeal to readers as a well-written story, as well as to those with an interest in South Georgia as a remote island in the Southern Ocean, its relationship with the Falklands and the wildlife, including the workings of a whaling station where the tough ships and hardy men who sailed them were supporting the industry and residents of the island. It is also an interesting snapshot of the social history of the people whose lives were dominated by the harsh climate and environment and how it impacted on them. This story provides a window into the life of a young girl who fortunately for us, has an extraordinary memory and can recall her experiences in great detail. Beverley tells us how every day differed from the next. From rogue elephant seals, extreme weather and how the whalers would produce alcohol, Brasso polish apparently a favourite of some when the whisky ran out.

We're told that most folk in Britain no longer believe in fairies. Yet two centuries ago North of the Border the 'guid neebors' were accepted as a potent force in everyday life, as real as the sunrise and sunset. Scotland is today on the verge of a watershed moment in her history with an independence referendum scheduled for the autumn of 2014. But in the midst of this fresh excitement are much older, occult forces at work?This timely novel opens in the year 2037 in a world plagued by drought, war, vast migrations of people from the arid lands and resultant social and economic meltdown. However, abundant supplies of fresh water are giving Scotland a precious advantage in a much-changed Europe. But the threat is that New Europe may soak up our water-rich nation and steal Scotland's liberty.Obituaries Editor Kal Gilroy finds himself in receipt of a strange gift from a recently deceased former girlfriend - the manuscript of a novel looking back to the Scottish independence referendum of 2014. He sets himself the task of unpicking this mysterious work and the book's relevance to Scotland in the 2030s soon becomes apparent. The supposedly 'fictional' work left to Gilroy by Professor Jane Hill tells a very different story of that 2014 referendum from that taught in university classes or recorded in the electronic journals of the period. This is Jim Hewitson's first novel and it is a romantic fairy tale with a difference. A lively fantasy it suggests that, as Scotland prepares for next year's vote, fascinating forces are at work behind the scenes. In deepest Stirlingshire something occult stirs in response to this potentially historic moment; This is an unfamiliar Scotland where nothing is quite as it seems. The old magic lies just beneath the surface.

Original publishers note 1897 "What shall we have? "is a question daily. asked in. thousands of homes by troubled, housekeepers, as .often calling forth only the same ever-repeated answer. It is this perpetually-recurring query that has suggested the publication of the present book, as an attempt to furnish a ready answer of a more satisfactory nature. It is not a Cookery Book, in the ordinary sense of the term: making no profession of teaching how to cook, or even of embracing a very wide range of recipes. It pretends to be, simply. what its title describes-a selection of fresh and choice recipes, for Tasty Dishes; nearly every one of which has been personally tested by the compiler. The volume is published with the hope that it may, by suggesting a pleasing variety of simple palatable dishes, be the means of lifting a burden from many a housewife's heart, and increasing in some degree the general peace and. comfort of many a. household. The Publishers believe that it will be warmly welcomed as affording opportunity of enjoying variety without vexation, and they have full confidence that the recipes will commend themselves in all homes where it is desired to have excellence without extravagance.

Following his acclaimed chronicle of the Scots in America, Jim Hewitson has now turned his attention to the second great area of Scottish migration, Australia and New Zealand. From the first penal colony in Botany Bay in 1788 to the glamorous story of Duntocher-born 1930s speedway ace Ron Johnston, Scots have played a role at every level in life and society of these two dynamic nations. Rather than setting out as a comprehensive genealogical survey, Far Off In Sunlit Places brims with colourful anecdote and remarkable family histories. Illustrated by over a hundred fascinating historic black-and-white illustrations, and enriched by Jim Hewitson's ability to trace the fortunes and misfortunes of a wonderful array of individuals, be they farm boys or prime ministers, the book offers a unique insight into the contribution made by the people of Scottish decent to the history of the Antipodes. From coastline to desert, from hill farms to the growing cities of both nations, the narrative moves with fluid ease. Far Off in Sunlit Places is popular history at its best, highly readable and carrying its scholarship lightly. It is a very fitting testimony to the resilience and ambition of Scots abroad.