Isles of the West

Isles of the West describes a three-month voyage made in the summer of 1996 around the Hebrides. The author explores the major issues peculiar to these fascinating islands. Interwoven with the beauty of the islands and the seductive feeling of freedom, which comes from long voyages in small boats, is the nagging worry of alien forces. Both Scottish and European, sentimental and mercenary, are distorting small indigenous societies by imposing outside ideas on communities whose value correlates with the freedom from external pressures. Who are these bodies, both public and private, that want to save the islands from the islanders? Ian Mitchell’s controversial book examines these conflicts and describes how pleasant it can be to worry about the future while lolling on the sun-drenched deck of a gently moving sailing boat.