Description
Acair, 2017. 180 pages. Paperback.
This scholarly and readable book goes a long way to answering many questions. The focus is on case studies, with poets, explorers, theologians, teachers and academics included in this ‘micro-history’ of late 19th and early 20th century Scotland, with a particular focus on the Isle of Lewis.
“This is a wonderful, delightful and entertaining book which brings to life a Hebridean and Scottish world which has long passed away. It is also an informative contribution to understanding the educational traditions of old Scotland and how they could provide opportunities for a better life for at least some of those who possessed the ability and the work ethic to succeed, no matter their background.”
Professor Emeritus Sir Tom Devine, The University of Edinburgh
“By way of meticulously researched insights into the lives and times of a series of intriguing individuals, Iain Smith and his collaborators provide a highly readable account of how, a hundred or more years ago, island schools, and especially Stornoway’s Nicolson Institute, began to open for their students all sorts of doors that would otherwise have remained closed. A first-rate exercise in social history with some great stories.”
Professor Emeritus James Hunter, University of the Highlands and Islands
“For all of us who are convinced that education opens doors this is a wonderful book. Concentrating on some significant Lewis individuals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Iain Smith shows that not only did islanders play their part in a local context, they also went on to influence national and even international thinking. This is an excellent and thought-provoking book.”
Professor Matthew M. MacIver, CBE.
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