POLAR STAR EXPEDITIONS

Remote Coastal Regions of England, Ireland, and Scotland

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Kids

Books for

Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

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The British Isles, A History of Four Nations

The British Isles, A History of Four Nations

by Hugh Kearney

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 324 PAGES

The Celts, Romans, Vikings, Normans and modern immigrants all make an appearance in Kearney's elegant and revisionist history of not just the English but also of the Scots, Welsh and Irish. (GBR88, $39.99)

Coasting, A Private Journey

Coasting, A Private Journey

by Jonathan Raban

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 302 PAGES

Raban's eloquent, anecdotal account of a solo circumnavigation of the British Isles in a 30-foot ketch, his first experience in a boat. It's an engaging account of the experience of the sea, and the people and places he encounters. (GBR591, $13.00)

Seamanship, A Voyage along the Wild Coasts of the British Isles

Seamanship, A Voyage along the Wild Coasts of the British Isles

by Adam Nicolson

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 192 PAGES

Nicolson offers an engrossing account of a coastal voyage from Cornwall, along the western coast of Ireland, out to the Faeroes and to Orkney in this brief hymn to the sea. (GBR561, $13.95)

The Crofter and the Laird

The Crofter and the Laird

by John McPhee

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1978
  • PAPER
  • 159 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

McPhee packs up his family and returns for a year to his ancestral land on the Isle of Colonsay in this lyrical, appreciative portrait of place and traditional ways of life in the Hebrides. (SCT23, $16.00)

Great Britain and Ireland Map

Great Britain and Ireland Map

by HEMA Maps

  • MAP

A nicely detailed map showing both Great Britain and Ireland at a scale of 1:750,000. (GBR31, $10.95)

 
Fodor's Exploring Scotland

Fodor's Exploring Scotland


by Gilbert Summers

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

With its many photographs, detailed descriptions and practical information, this compact guide covers Scotland in style. (SCT09, $22.00)

Fodor's London's 25 Best

Fodor's London's 25 Best


by Fodor's

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

This slim guide to London (with handy full-color maps) has everything you need to know for a short visit to the city, including recommended sightseeing, restaurants, hotels and shops. (GBR08, $11.95)

Celtic Prayers from Iona

Celtic Prayers from Iona


by J. Philip Newell

  • RELIGION
  • 1997
  • HARD COVER
  • 96 PAGES

Inspired by the Gaelic prayers and poems of the 19th-century Scotsman Alexander Carmichael, Newell and his wife developed this handsome hard cover book while wardens on the island. (SCT21, $14.95)

Ireland, A Concise History

Ireland, A Concise History


by Maire O'Brien | Conor Cruise O'Brien

  • HISTORY
  • 1985
  • PAPER
  • 192 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

With its lively, even-handed tone and hundreds of photographs, this grand history by scholar and statesman O'Brien conveys the essence of the Irish experience. (IRE20, $19.95)

Scotland, A Concise History

Scotland, A Concise History


by Fitzroy MacLean | Magnus Linklater

  • HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 248 PAGES

With 250 well-integrated illustrations, this lively and authoritative history covers the romantic figures and bloody battles from the early clans up to the present. (SCT15, $19.95)

The Aran Islands

The Aran Islands


by J.M. Synge | Tim Robinson

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES

A much-loved turn-of-the-century account of the islands (as contrasted with mainland Ireland), drenched in the Celtic soul of the Irish. (IRE26, $15.00)

The Last of the Celts

The Last of the Celts


by Marcus Tanner

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 398 PAGES

Welsh journalist Tanner mixes anecdote, interview and research in this lively account of encounters with far-flung Celts from Scotland, Wales and Belfast to Brittany, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Trelew. (GBR527, $25.00)

The Mother Tongue, English and How it Got That Way

The Mother Tongue, English and How it Got That Way


by Bill Bryson

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 270 PAGES

An indispensable guide to the language that divides us, this book is an informative linguistic history which showcases Bryson's wry wit. (GBR15, $14.99)

The Story of England

The Story of England


by Christopher Hibbert

  • HISTORY
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

Beautifully illustrated with color pictures, chronological charts, royal genealogies and maps, this popular history of English politics, economics and culture from the Neolithic age to the 1990s is an excellent traveler's companion. (GBR02, $19.95)

Tir a'Mhurain, The Outer Hebrides of Scotland

Tir a'Mhurain, The Outer Hebrides of Scotland


by Paul Strand | Catherine Duncan | Basil Davidson

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2002
  • HARD COVER
  • 128 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

The great American photographer Paul Strand spent three months in the Hebrides in 1954, capturing the region's striking landscapes and residents on film. This exhibition catalog handsomely reproduces 105 of Strand's duotone images. (SCT58, $40.00)

Cathedrals and Castles, The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages

Cathedrals and Castles, The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages


by Alain Erlande-Brandenburg

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 175 PAGES

This pocket-size encyclopedia of the art, architecture and culture of the Middle Ages features hundreds of drawings, color illustrations and a brief chronology. (MED07, $15.95)

A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides


by Samuel Johnson | James Boswell

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1984
  • PAPER
  • 429 PAGES

Written when Johnson was 63 and Boswell 32 in 1773 (when they had been friends for ten years), these travel journals were the result of a three-month trip to Scotland. Johnson observed Scotland, and Boswell observed Johnson. (SCT07, $18.00)

Life of St. Columba


by Adomnan of Iona | Richard Sharpe

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 395 PAGES

An early account of the life of St. Columba (521-97), the 6th-century abbot who established the monastery on Iona. Written by Adomnan of Iona at the turn of the 8th century, it introduces the profoundly spiritual man as well as his famous abbey. (IRE103, $17.00)

Celtic Prayers and Incantations

Celtic Prayers and Incantations


by Alexander Carmichael

  • LITERATURE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 142 PAGES

An authoritative edition of poems and blessings as collected by folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832 - 1912) over 40 years, when Gaelic was still widely spoken in the Skye, Uist, Oban and other islands of the Hebrides. (CLT4, $7.95)

Orkneyinga Saga, The History of the Earls of Orkney

Orkneyinga Saga, The History of the Earls of Orkney


by Hermann Palssom | Paul Edwards

  • LITERATURE
  • 1981
  • PAPER
  • 253 PAGES

A fusion of myth and legend, circa A.D. 1200, by an unnamed Icelandic author. The medieval chronicle has its center of action among the Orkney Islands, describing their conquest by Norwegian kings during the Viking expansion of the ninth century. (VIK07, $16.00)

Sun Dancing, A Vision of Medieval Ireland

Sun Dancing, A Vision of Medieval Ireland


by Geoffrey Moorhouse

  • LITERATURE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 280 PAGES

This wonderfully inspired combination of scholarship and historical fiction, set at the monastery on Skellig Michael, carries the reader back to Ireland's early monastic tradition. (IRE13, $22.95)

Birds of Europe

Birds of Europe


by Lars Svensson

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Featuring 3,500 glorious paintings by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrom, the second revised edition of this exquisite guide has been brought up to date with revised text and maps. (FG47, $29.95)

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