Islay, Jura and Colonsay: A Historical Guide - Softcover

The story of Islay, Jura and Colonsay is one of the most fascinating amongst all the Hebrides. They have had substantial human occupation since earliest times and man has left many relics across the islands, from tools and artefacts of mesolithic times to the modern-day distilleries of Islay and Jura. From the period in-between survive chambered cairns, iron age forts, magnificent early crosses, enigmatic carvings, early monasteries, relics of the Lordship of the Isles, deserted townships and shielings, planned villages, corn mills, kelp kilns and lead mines and much else besides. Far more than a gazetteer, this book is based on a great deal of intensive primary research and local knowledge and is essential reading for local and tourist alike. Islay, Jura and Colonsay is part of Birlinn's Historical Guides series, which will eventually cover the whole of Scotland.

Dr David Caldwell is a former Keeper of Scotland & Europe in the National Museums of Scotland. In the 1990s he directed excavations at Finlaggan on Islay, the centre of the Lordship of the Isles. He is the author of Islay: The Land of the Lordship (2008) and Mull and Iona: A Historical Guide (2018).