Katie Featherstone

Bradt’s Skye & the Inner Hebrides is the new, thoroughly updated, second edition of the most detailed standalone travel guidebook to this group of Scottish islands. Author Katie Featherstone, who loved the Inner Hebrides so much she moved there, features 20 inhabited islands, from the Isle of Skye in the north to community-owned Gigha in the south, plus the gateway towns of Oban and Mallaig on the Scottish mainland. Ransacked by Vikings, caught between warring clan chiefs and exploited by mainland nobility, the ongoing survival of Inner Hebridean communities testifies to the strength of their character. Reclaiming an identity through their native Gaelic language, ceilidh dancing and traditional industries remains a struggle, but despite only around 20,000 people living across the region, each inhabited island has a distinctive history, character and culture. With a bridge to the mainland, Skye sees the most visitors; it boasts the most varied landscape and most obvious attractions, including its Highland Games. Other, smaller islands remain relatively remote and less affected by the outside world. Pious Iona, Islay with its whisky, and Canna – where the village shop still runs via honesty box – all have their own individual charm. Beyond cultural intrigue, the Inner Hebrides are renowned for their wild places, striking a perfect balance between feeling remote and being accessible on any budget. Scotland’s ‘right to roam’ provides infinite walking possibilities. Away from the villages, miles of intricate coastline, with sandy beaches and towering cliffs, enclose swathes of heathery moorland and hills. Hikers can enjoy Mull’s dramatic rock formations or Jura’s ‘Paps’, with only a herd of red deer or a soaring eagle for company. On Skye, you can go beachcombing in the morning, then watch the Highland Games in the afternoon. Wildlife-watchers can snorkel with basking sharks off Coll, listen for corncrakes on Tiree, admire wintering geese on Islay or spot dolphins off Mull. With extensive listings of accommodation and eating options, detailed transport advice, walking routes and packing lists, plus insights into history, myths and lifestyle, Bradt’s Skye & the Inner Hebrides is the ideal companion for an enjoyable visit.

including Mull, Islay, Iona and more

Skye and the Inner Hebrides

Andy Northcott

Wandering the Wards provides a detailed and unflinching ethnographic examination of life within the contemporary hospital. It reveals the institutional and ward cultures that inform the organisation and delivery of everyday care for one of the largest populations within them: people living with dementia who require urgent unscheduled hospital care. Drawing on five years of research embedded in acute wards in the UK, the authors follow people living with dementia through their admission, shadowing hospital staff as they interact with them during and across shifts. In a major contribution to the tradition of hospital ethnography, this book provides a valuable analysis of the organisation and delivery of routine care and everyday interactions at the bedside, which reveal the powerful continuities and durability of ward cultures of care and their impacts on people living with dementia.

An Ethnography of Hospital Care and its Consequences for People Living with Dementia

Wandering the Wards

The first guide dedicated to this group of islands in many years: from the Isle of Skye in the north to community-owned Gigha in the south, 24 islands are covered, with full practical details of how to get to each one, what to do and see while there, where to stay and where to eat. A dedicated wildlife section details interesting and rare species and where and when to see them, from whale-watching trips off Mull to RSPB hides and reserves and ongoing conservation programmes. Suggested routes and recommended packing lists are included for hikers, while history, myths and legends bring greater depth of understanding to present-day island life.The Inner Hebrides strike a perfect balance between feeling remote and being accessible on any budget. Accommodation options covered include hotels, self-catering cottages, guest houses, hostels, campsites and bothies, while transport option range from self-drive to public transport, cycling and walking. Whether dolphin-spotting or birdwatching, beach-combing or walking, whisky tasting or tucking into freshly caught seafood, making a pilgrimage to Iona or cheering on the Highland Games on Skye, Bradt's Inner Hebrides is the ideal companion for a successful visit.

Inner Hebrides

Paul Atkinson

Based on original ethnographic research with scientists, clinicians and families, this book examines Rett syndrome to illuminate more general issues concerning the construction and interpretation of diseases and syndromes. It derives from research with a specialist team of clinicians and scientists, and a series of families referred with a potential diagnosis of Rett syndrome, and documents the scientific, clinical, patient and family experiences over a three-year period. Although Rett syndrome itself is rare, it is one of some 2,000 such syndromes, and its genetic basis has recently been linked to the much broader Autism spectrum. From a sociological or anthropological point of view, it is also of considerable interest as a clinical entity that is undergoing transformation in the light of recent post-genomic research. Traditionally, such syndromes have been diagnosed clinically, but increasingly genetic technologies are having an impact on the diagnosis, description and classification of conditions. Rett Syndrome is thus a key exemplar of the implications of genetic medicine that are far-reaching and extend well beyond this particular syndrome.

Katie Featherstone

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