The two books I am reviewing for the November edition of The Scottish Mountaineer have arrived extremely quickly. This is good news as I wish to read them long before the copy deadline in mid-September.

They are:

  • The High Places: Leaves from a Lakeland Notebook;                     A. Harry Griffen, Frances Lincoln Publishers
  • A year in the life of the Isle of Skye;                                               Bill Birkett, Frances Lincoln Publishers

Both books look interesting but are completely different in style and format. Bill Birkett will be familiar to anyone who has seen his wonderfully evocative photographs of the Lake District or more recently Glencoe. This latest book is the next instalment of his, “A year in the life” series.  I had never come across A.H.Griffin before but he had written the country diary column in the Guardian for over 50 years. I am slightly sceptical about this book as it is prominently billed as including illustrations by A. Wainwright. Is this more cynical cashing in of the Wainwright franchise by developing a tenuous link to fill the coffers of greedy publishers? At a glance my initial reaction may be wrong and the illustrations do illuminate the words.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]