Islands of the Evening

Journeys to the Edge of the World

by Alistair Moffat

Imprint: Birlinn

398 Pages, b/w drawings; maps

Digital download
9781788855747
December 2022

$12.95

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Description
Authors
Praise

[an] exploration of Scotland's past through the eyes of a scholarly hiker ... Magnificent' - New Statesman, Books of the Year

Fourteen centuries ago, Irish saints journeyed to the Hebrides and Scotland's Atlantic shore. They sought spiritual solitude in remote places, but their mission was also to spread the word of God to the peoples of Scotland. Columba was the most famous of these pioneers who rowed their curraghs towards danger and uncertainty in a pagan land, but the many others are now largely forgotten.

Alistair Moffat sets off in search of these elusive figures. As he follows in their footsteps, he finds their traces not so much in tangible remains as in the spirit and memory of the places that lay at the very edge of their world.

Alistair Moffat was born and bred in the Scottish Borders. A former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Director of Programmes at Scottish Television, he now runs the burgeoning Borders Book Festival as well as a production company based near Selkirk. He has written twelve books, including Kelsae, The Reivers, The Sea Kingdoms, The Borders and The Wall, all of which are published by Birlinn.

An exploration of Scotland's past through the eyes of a scholarly hiker ... magnificent' ~New Statesman

Delightful ... Moffat's writing is at its most fascinating when he writes about his own experience' ~Church Times

See Scotland's shores in a new light on Alistair's journey' ~Scots Magazine

A lively and sometimes humorous account for a popular audience and whilst meticulously researched, he captures the spirit of beauty of the 'thin place' between heaven and earth' ~Lynne McNeil, Life and Work

Moffat writes sensitively and informatively about early monasticism... His book is also full of fascinating asides on more recent spiritual and religious currents and controversies in these regions, and makes for a satisfying and compelling travelogue' ~Ian Bradley, Church Times

Moffat has a gift for putting readers at ease and bringing history alive... part social history, part travelogue, part religious hymnal, this is a charming book' ~Megan Amato, Scottish Field

Moffat uncovers the monastic communities, linked by piety and seacraft, that once girded the Atlantic like so many prayer beads. A compulsive read' ~The Tablet