Life and Death of St. Kilda (A Fontana original) [Paperback]

Tom Steel (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 297 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 2nd edition (May 12, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0006373402
• ISBN-13: 978-0006373407
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,749,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The forgotten island, April 24, 2000

By 

Nigel Roth-Witty (Putnam Valley, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life and Death of St. Kilda (A Fontana original) (Paperback)

Imagine being told the life you and your ancestors have lived for thousands of years doesn't work any more. Secluded and peaceful, your island community has honored it's ancient traditions of hunting and gathering, ritual and socicety, and they've seen you through good and bad times, where life has been tough but meaningful. And now your simply told it doesn't fit with how outsiders think you should live.

Steel's magical account of the sacred island of St.Kilda - far out from the Scottish mainland and the straggle of archipeligo's that surround it - is both heart-warming and heat-breaking. He tells the tale of men and women whose lives are toyed with by authorities that felt they knew better than a people who for generations had lived almost completely isolated from what we call civilization.

This book describes St.Kilda when it thrived as a small, close-knit team, and when it worked together for the common good. It describes how St.Kildans hunted and gathered like prehistoric communities had thousands of years ago, and how they dealt with disasters and diseases that threatened their existence time and again. And ultimately, the story of a community that the world forgot for hundreds of years and then remebered again, just long enough to change forever the lives of the people of St.Kilda.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just visited St. Kilda, bought the book there, it's very good, June 26, 2008

By 

Dancer (Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life and Death of St. Kilda (A Fontana original) (Paperback)

When I was lucky enough to be able to visit St. Kilda in June 2008, I bought this book at the little gift shop on the island. I sat down the next day while I was still in the Western Isles, and read most of it in one sitting; and I found it excellent. The author really brings everything to life, and makes it very readable. Their lives, hardships, everything. Not sentimental but rather factual and really riveting (not dry at all).