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The Life and Death of St. Kilda
by: Tom Steel

Off The Bookshelf's Price: £9.99

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Used Price: £1.62
Third Party New Price: £4.51

Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 900
EAN: 9780006373407
ISBN: 0006373402
Label: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Number Of Pages: 297
Publication Date: May 12, 1988
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Studio: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Sales Rank: 205589

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St Kilda: A Journey to the End of the World

Island on the Edge of the World: The Story of St Kilda

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- gets better as it goes on
There have been numerous books written about St Kilda and the evacuation. This work, and Charles McLean's 'Island on the Edge of the World' are probably the most comprehensive and best known.

Whilst reading this book, my early impressions were that it was pretty poor in comparison to Mclean's, which gives a much better account of the day to day existance of islanders and their customs. However, once nearer to the end of Steel's book I realised that it is really covering a different series of events to Mcleans. Whereas Mclean gives a fascinating account of life on St Kilda, Steels book is more concerned with the years immediately leading up to the evacuation and the reasons for the evacuation. It also deals at considerable length ... Read More:

Rating:

- Nearly reduced me to tears
I bought this book the day after I landed on St. Kilda and combined with the visit it really paints a picture of the St. Kildan's remote island life. It mixes the idyllic with the hardships and teaches us a thing or two about the impact of money and greed. Unfortunately my great grandfather doesn't get a mention!

A fascinating read, my only criticism of which would be that there's only so much one can say about the birds.

Rating:

- Interesting Read
I discovered the existence of St Kilda whilst holidaying on Scotland and was curious to discover more. This book covers the history and facts of the Island but adds lot of personal interest with how the Islanders lived and survived on the island up until the evacuation in the 1930's. Educational and enjoyable.

Rating:

- Life and Death of St Kilda
Despite being classed as an educational read, which might put most people off I recommend this book! It talks about a society, enclosed on a archipelago of small islands. A society that had survived for centuries to be destroyed not by nature or by themselves but by mainland civilisation! The book tells their story and discusses in more detail the reason why the villagers were evacuated in the 1930's. The book has insets of pictures which provides a visible insight into the world and people you read about! There are also some informative maps at the front of the book. When reading the book, it allows you to be an invisible observer during the last few days of inhabitance on the island. It is a fascinating and touching read that leaves you asking ... Read More:

Rating:

- An astonishing account of life on a rock in the Atlantic
It may not be "unputdownable", but it is definately worth taking the time to read. The book takes you from beginnings of known history on St. Kilda, through to the evacuation and the main causes for it, and onto the islands new role as a bird sanctury and a milatary observation base. It tells a story of a way of life that you would have thought could not have existed in such a barren and wild outcrop of rock. It is fasinating tale of how they existed from day to day with the poorest of resources. The St. Kildans lived on seabirds, sheep and anything else they could fashion into a commodity for centuries, but ultimately they had to give way to "progress". Society of the 1920's couldn't understand how these people could live or even want to live on ... Read More:

Books : The Life and Death of St. Kilda