Research Catalog

Title

St. Kilda and the wider world : tales of an iconic island / Andrew Fleming.

Author

Fleming, Andrew.

Publication

Bollington, Macclesfield, Cheshire : Windgather, c2005.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xiii, 226 p. : ill. (some col.) : maps; 25 cm.

Summary

• "The story of the St. Kilda archipelago - a World Heritage Site and once home to the most remote community in Britain - has long been seen as a tragedy. Sepia images of the 'St. Kilda Parliament', intrepid seabird hunters and abandoned houses have been used to evoke a heroic, ultimately doomed 'struggle for existence' on the edge of the Atlantic. This book, the first general account for thirty years, challenges this conventional wisdom."
• "Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed that the archipelago was settled by a viable community well before 2000 B.C.; in prehistoric and Norse times, St. Kilda, far from being penalised by 'isolation', may have played a special role within its region. Later written records reveal a well-organised, economically diversified and culturally rich community, which often dealt effectively with outsiders and won their sympathy. Fascinated outsiders usually interpreted St. Kilda in terms of their own world views; eventually the 'natives' behaved as tourists had come to expect, helping to create the iconic island of today."--Jacket.

Alternative Title

• Saint Kilda and the wider world
• St. Kilda

Subjects

• History
• Landscape archaeology > Scotland > Saint Kilda
• Saint Kilda (Scotland) > Antiquities
• Saint Kilda (Scotland) > History

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-220) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. Prologue : reopening the inquest -- 2. The qualities of the isle -- 3. Men of stone -- 4. The interdependence of islands -- 5. A study in cultural competence -- 6. The social psychology of the St. Kildans -- 7. A man with a mission -- 8. From MacLeod's prison to fool's paradise -- 9. Tales of the expected -- 10. In conclusion : the cunning of the St. Kildans.

ISBN

• 1905119003 (pbk.)
• 9781905119004 (pbk.)

LCCN

^^2005434121

OCLC

57751372

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library