3 comments about Blue Guide Scotland, Twelfth Edition (Blue Guides).

1. 
   We used the Blue Guides for Florence and Venice last year, and we were amazed at how much detailed information they contained about history, art, and culture. So when I began planning a long Scotland trip, I was happy to find a Blue Guide for the country.

   Blue Guide boasts several benefits which I haven't found in other guides. The first is an appreciation for historical details. Here you will discover who actually built the castle you're visiting, who painted the portrait in the hall, when the furniture was made, along with who lived there and what they accomplished. And these details are not only there for the most famous portraits and castles, but also for those that other guidebooks don't even mention.

   The second benefit of the Blue Guide is the city walks you'll find here. Some guidebooks approach a city based on how many famous sights it has. They list the sights and how much they cost, and you get to find your way on a map from place to place. Blue Guide takes an intelligent step away from that approach and takes you on a walk around the city. Maps are included, and you could easily deviate from the walk, but why would you want to? If you follow Blue Guide's walks, you'll read descriptions of the architecture along quaint streets, and you'll be led to all of the galleries and sights you want to see.

   The final benefit of using a Blue Guide is never needing to buy a local guide to a gallery or museum. You know those audio guides that give you a tour of galleries? You won't have to pay for any of them, because Blue Guide will walk you through each room, painting by painting.

   Finally, a word about the more practical details found in this guide. The maps are excellent, but they are divided into several pages. At first, they are a bit confusing. But once you adjust to the layout, they are invaluable and great reference tools. If there is a weakness in the Blue Guide, it is the availability of practical details like lodging and train schedules. With the Internet, we planned all of our lodging online. And if you're moderately flexible in your train times, trains run so often in the UK that you won't have to wait long after showing up at the station. Blue Guide does list restaurants, and my experience with those listed in the past has been very good. Overall, this is THE guide for the thinking traveler. It is the only country guide I'll be taking with me!




2. My sister and I recently traveled to Scotland for a 10-day holiday. We found the Blue Guide to be an excellent resource for information on the history and culture of Scotland. The history of various buildings and sites was provided in great detail as were descriptions of building interiors. The walks outlined were good and led one to lesser-known locations.

   I found there to be several weaknesses, though. The book could not be used for planning a trip in terms of accomodations, shopping or restaurants as very little information is provided regarding those specifics. The index is woefully inadequate requiring one to try and remember which region a small town is located in order to find information. Attractions and sites are not rated - one is left wondering which sites would be the best when time is limited.

   My sister had purchased Fodor's Scotland edition which I would recommend as a primary guide book particularly when selecting accomodations and restaurants. The Blue Guide was a great secondary guide book - particularly regarding the history and legends of Scotland.




3. As other reviewers have noted, do not buy the Blue Guides for information on meals, accommodation, transport, etc. They have always been designed to help the traveller understand the history and culture of a country, and the sights that might interest an informed and reflective traveller. Other guides deal with the logistics.
   
   I first travelled in Scotland with the Blue Guide in 1979, and recently bought the current edition for planning a return trip. Although the purpose is clearly the same, I am sorry to note a loss of detail. The ruined cathedral of Elgin, for example, used to have an almost step-by-step description of the visible remains. The current edition skates quickly over the surface of what you can see. Perhaps the signage, or the guides available on the spot, are now more thorough. But I for one miss having the detail in one handy, portable package.
   
   Nevertheless, if you like to understand a country you are visiting, buy the Blue Guide among others. In the case of Scotland, it will tell you far more about what matters to Scots, and what has shaped the nation, than anything else short of a comprehensive history.
   
   Buy the other guides for where to stay and where to eat.

4 comments about Michelin Green Guide to Scotland.

1. How much personality does a guide need? It has a lot of useful information in a readily accessible format, it's compact and the material is usually dead-on. We've used the guide to Spain and found it very useful and will use this one on our trip to Scotland in the fall. We've found that, frequently, less is better in a travel guide. It encourages a bit more spontaneity.



2. I have traveled to 15 countries that Michelin Green Guides cover, have used Michelin guides in every instance, and they are consistently the best publication on the market. Dead on and very savvy, they fit in your back pocket and have been a wonderful companion to me over the years.

   The Scotland guide is no exception. Scotland is one of the most beautiful countries on the planet, and well worthy of a visit.




3. This book is well organized and it was a great help to have the hours, directions, admission price, etc. The fold-out maps were a plus. This size makes it easy to fit into a backpack or purse.



4. The first part of the book has good information on currency, local customs, etc. However, the rest of the book is organized ALPHABETICALLY by the name of the city, not by region! If you want to visit Fort Williams and Spean Bridge (which are about 20 miles apart), you have to look under the F's and under the S's (over 100 pages apart) to find information about these two towns, rather than being able to turn a page or two, as the Frommer's or Eyewitness guides permit. Not user friendly at all. An alphabetical listing of cities/towns can be presented in the index, where it is easily referenced. The body of a good travel book is organized by region.
   
   Needless to say, I didn't even bother to pack the book when I went on my trip.

2 comments about Scotland's Coast: A Photographer's Journey.

1. Joe Cornish is an english landscape photographer. So he prefer to photograph the coastline of his home island. The first taste was his book "First Light". In his new book "Scotland`s Coast" he consequently shows pictures from the scotish coast. He started in the west moved to the north and finished in the east coast of Scotland. The book takes you to the steep cliffs, wide sandy beaches and rocky coastline in a dramatic sky. His typical style is to take pictures with a wide angle lens. So the pictures shows a great foreground that leads into the wide landscape in the background. All his pictures are made in a magic light with saturated colours. The pictures are published very sharp so you feel like standing behind the camera. If you are interestet in overwhelming Coast Photos buy this book.
   But take care, there are no scotish castles in this book. One word to the publisher: Please, use next time a thicker paper this one "feel" so poor.



2. Joe Cornish is one of Britain's best landscape photographers and his talent has been recognized in many books. I have his 2002 publication, Light and the Art of Landscape Photography, and bought this one unseen because of that.
   
   The pictures certainly live up to my expectations, with richly coloured, razor-sharp explorations of the amazing Scottish coast, complete with dramatic skies that shows he worked hard to get it right.
   
   My only complaint it this book is not so much for serious photographers. Unlike Light and the Art of..., there are no detailed captions explaining how each picture was made. Sure, there are what Cornish calls "field notes" at the end, but they are far too brief and it's annoying to have to skip back and forth from picture to field note. Because of this, I would recommend Scotland's Coast for non-photographers only.

No comments about Lonely Planet Scotland's Highlands and Islands.

No comments about Foula: Island West of the Sun.

1 comments about Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage (Stones of Aran).

1. This collection of 14 shorter pieces by Tim Robinson, mathematician, teacher, artist and cartographer, gives a portrait of the west of Ireland which is unrivalled in recent writing from that country. Its' integrating device, and central metaphor, is the map. A map, stripped bare, is a distillation of topographical knowledege about an area. Onto this rudimentary two-dimensional scaffolding layer after layer of detail can be added. These are the details of culture, of history, personal memory. Robinson navigates the process of regarding a landscape with the notion of the fractal -- the notion of self-similar structures at multiple levels of observation (in "A Connemara Fractal"). He enjoyably talks us through the technical details of making maps, and has some wonderful stories of his mathematical training. I will not attempt to summarize the various chapters but would urge all those interested in landscape, biography, Irish history, coastal walks, fractal theory, natural history archaeology, literary fiction, and "home" (and that, I suppose, includes just about everyone) to read this. In a time when many find themselves living at some distance from their homeplace this book shows how a fresh intimacy with new landscapes can enrich and invigorate. As an Irish emigrant I am both compelled to return to Ireland after reading this and yet am encouraged to persevere in understanding of my new homeplace in the United States. I have loaned this book to friends in Costa Rica, in the American Northwest, and here in Georgia. All have felt its power. It should stimulate the reader to get his larger works on the Aran Islands. Be warned however these books, the present one included, eccentric masterpieces, will make you want to crumble soil between your fingers, circum-navigate your local terrain, and fumble into the interstices of your jaded soul. Liam Heneghan (heneghan@sparc.ecology.uga.edu; Athens, GA)

5 comments about An Innocent in Scotland: More Curious Rambles and Singular Encounters.

1. I received a copy of McFadden's book "An Innocent in Scotland" as a Christmas gift from my son. I'm writing to say how much my wife and I are enjoying it. On an evening I like to read aloud while my wife does some handwork. It's surprising how few books are really good for this sort of reading. We have found some of the essentials to be that each chapter must stand alone, while being part of a greater whole; that it should be generally humorous as well as interesting; and that it should contain a lot of dialogue - if it is set in or is about Scotland, that's just an added bonus. We rate this book at the top of our all-time list, along with Alistair Phillips' "My Uncle George".

   Each chapter needs to stand alone because several days or even weeks may pass between readings; it should be humorous and interesting because we are looking for entertainment, not heavy social commentary or an education in incest or the other subjects that modern authors seem to favour; and it should have lots of dialogue because it's fun to act out the different voices and accents. If the speakers are Scottish, then I am surer of my ground, having lived in Edinburgh until immigrating to Canada thirty or so years ago.

   When we have read this delightful book about Scotland I shall buy the one about Ireland. I can hardly wait to try the Irish accents.

   "An Innocent in Scotland" has provided us with much enjoyment, hilarity, and insight into the lives of ordinary folk. The author has a talent for asking the questions most of us are too timid, self-conscious or otherwise unwilling to ask.




2. I found this gem of a book while visiting McFadden's homeland of Canada. Being someone who has an enormous interest in Scottish heritage, the title caught my interest. I read the first four chapters while standing in the bookstore while other customers looked in my direction for laughing out loud. McFaddens view on the land of the Scots had me smiling through the entire book. And his attitude is genuine (we became email friends). The people he came in contact with were to the average person a bit out of the ordinary. He brought out the wanderlust in me enough to want to experience the same route that both he and H.V. Morton took. His descriptions were so top notch, it brings you right in the very circle of friends he meets. I recommend this book to anyone who loves the quirkiness and fun that should always be a part of our travels.



3. David McFaddden would be an interesting fellow to with whom to travel. Whether making circle tours of the Great Lakes or searching for Pictish earthworks in Scotland, his poet's eye, wonderful listening skills and knack for encountering strange persons and situations makes just reading about his travels an experience. I laughed aloud, I shook my head in confusion and/or disgust, and I got a map of Scotland to trace his travels. What I would really like is to buy him dinner at Harbor Haus on the Lake Superior shore in Copper Harbor to ask why he thinks "Scots Wha' Hae' is a sad song and when he's going to write the Lake Superior book.



4. I became much more engaged with this book when Davy reached the Highlands.Prior to that, I was finding his repetition of B&B conversations a little tedious.In the Highlands and Mull , Davy seemed more enthusiastic about what he was seeing (and it helped that we share an interest and wonderment in prehistoric sites!)
   Davy highlighted the issue of negative attitudes towards "incomers" in the Highlands,something which most visitors would be unaware of.Good for you Davy, these things need to be aired .
   On the whole , I suspect that Davy's view of the Scots may be rather skewed , given that he only seemed to meet people in B&Bs and late night in pubs, thus missing out on whole sections of this fascinating, charming and intelligent population!
   By the way,Davy,in case you're reading this : visit Arbroath next time and try the local delicacy -Arbroath SMOKIES.Delicious smoked haddock.I doubt that anyone in Arbroath has heard of Arbroath stovies , unless they,ve read your book !
   Overall, an enjoyable ,quirky and gently humorous book.For Scots, it gives us the chance "To see oursels as ithers see us "



5. A more accurate title would have been "An Oaf In Scotland". His smug sense of superiority apparently made this sad man oblivious to the realization that he was being rude and patronizing much of the time. It is difficult to know who to pity more: the people he skewers with the wit of a turnip or the ones he actually LIKED. If your idea of a good travel companion is David Brent -- Ricky Gervais' character in BBC America's "The Office" -- you have found your man in McFadden.

No comments about Johnson and Boswell in Scotland: A Journey to the Hebrides.

No comments about Scotland: Pocket Travel Guide.

1 comments about Cathedrals of England, Scotland and Wales (The Country Series).

1. I bought this book thirteen years ago and still treasure it. Though the information on each cathedral is, at times, overly extensive for the layman, it's nonetheless an informative, enjoyable read that will make you marvel at the incredibly beautiful and inspiring architecture of medieval churches.

   Ah, if only churches nowadays were built in the same style (and with the same dedication and enthusiasm) as they were in the Middle Ages. The photographs in the book are outstanding so it will also make a terrific coffee table accent.