books

Scottish Independence

Books in the news

Three books reviewed in The Scotsman by Matt Qvortrup:

Scottish Independence: Yes or No? by Alan Cochrane and George Kerevan, The History Press, £7.99

Arts of Independence, by Alexander Moffat and Alan Riach, Luath Press, £9.99

Yes: the Radical Case for Scottish Independence, James Foley and Pete Ramand, Pluto Press, £12

To which might be added: Referendums and Ethnic Conflict by Matt Qvortrup himself, published by University of Pennsylvania Press, for a more scholarly take on these matters.

News

Craftsmanship and Art
Prof. Philip Dark

 

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We have just published a new edition of Professor Philip Dark’s 670-page anthropological work Craftsmanship and Art. The work was left uncompleted when Professor Dark died some years ago and it was a labour of love to complete it. One of the strengths of this unique book is that much of the research was conducted in the period 1955-1980 and many of the practices it describes have since been abandoned. The following from the index gives a brief glimpse of its breadth and originality:

Ute Indians
basketry 320
currency of dessicated fingertips 440

Wodabe people
cicitrization 370
hair of women 411
pack oxen 294
stretching of children’s limbs 403

Professor Dark was a remarkable man, a hero of the wartime raid on St. Lazare. It was while in prison camp in Germany that he first became interested in anthropology.

books

Why Darwin Matters to Christians
Adrian Bailey

 

CoverFront for kindle

We have just published a new edition of Why Darwin Matters to Christians, Adrian Bailey’s take on the appropriate response of Christians to the scientific revolution and to Darwinism in particular. Adrian is Chaplain of the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry. This well-argued book has proved to be of interest to many, both Christian and non-Christian.

Events

My Struggle
Karl Ove Knausgaard

 YouCaxton Literary Lecture, 6.30 pm, Tuesday, 27th May at the Pengwern Bookshop, Fish Street, Shrewsbury.

Fresh from his recent biography of Hans Christian Andersen, writer and literary critic, Paul Binding, will be speaking about Karl Ove Knausgaard’s six-volume autobiographical sequence, My Struggle. (Translation of the last three volumes into English is not yet complete; No 3, Boyhood Island, came out in the UK in March.) Knausgaard’s sensationally successful Proustian take on the nature of memory holds a warning for anyone embarking on memoir. Memory is: ‘pragmatic, sly and artful’.

Uncategorized

Journey From the summit
by Lorraine Ereira

jfts Journey From the Summit
by Lorraine Ereira

Flossie has had enough of men! After two failed relationships, she decides that she just wants to party and have fun. So she embarks on a summer of singledom, vowing to herself that she has finally closed the door on heartbreak hotel!!
Then on a night out with friends she meets Saul. The connection she feels between them is one she cannot ignore. Eventually she has no choice but to give in to the compelling force of her feelings, and she falls head over heels in love.
But fate is cruel, letting her meet him, waiting until she is desperately in love, then snatching him away.
Her love for Saul takes her on the most difficult journey she will ever make, sending her to places she never dreamed she would go, and she discovers that the road to true happiness is long, hard and dangerous.
Journey From the Summit is a true and intense story of heartache, hope and the indestructible connection that real love brings.
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by Lorraine Ereira →

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Liverpool, Kirkby and Me
David Lawler

Lawler_frontcover A touching and imaginative account of growing up in Kirkby new town in the 1950s. David Lawler's memoir describes a moment when the rustic world of the old Kirkby was in fast retreat, when pubs and 'mobile shops' had begun to clutter the landscape along with all the new homes.  'Z-cars' patrolled the area - it was a new town but the old problems remained. He describes how a group of young 'rock 'n' roll' lads sought fame and fortune and we watch the years roll by: the Cold War, Sputniks circling in space, 'rock 'n' roll' blaring from pirate radio stations.
Published:1st April 2015
Paperback:190 pages
Price:£9.99
ISBN:9-781909-644205

Available from YouCaxton

£9.99(+ £2 postage)

Number of copies:
David Lawler, formerly of Kirkby College of Further Education and later of Knowsley Community College spent much of his life in the Kirkby area and takes a special interest in the development of new towns and in the social implications of their establishment. David was instrumental in setting up the award-winning Acorn Venture Urban Farm at Kirkby which has special facilities for young people and adults with special needs.

fiction, Uncategorized

Not Quite the Full Chapati
Kath Hirani

Kath Hirani Bookcover 1200 Janice Saheed is no stranger to racism. Her husband is one of the first Asians to settle in England after the War although Janice herself is white. However, on her first day at school, Janice's four-year-old daughter, Joanna, meets local-girl, Helen, and a lifelong friendship is forged that transcends prejudice. Twent years on and now a young woman, Joanna is still struggling with her mixed-race identity and having to cope with racism when, against all her advice, her friend Helen falls for Rahim Ismail, a handsome dentist - and it is Helen's fascination with Asian culture, a fascination caused in the first place by Joanna, that is to blame. In her fight against racism from the other side of the racial divide, Helen struggles to understand why she and Rahim cannot be together. Eventually she admits defeat and decides to leave Rahim - but then, her father becomes ill and Rahim fails to vanish from her life as intended.
Paperback:354 pages
Price:£9.99
ISBN:9-781909-644151

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To complicate matters yet further, Joanna's father refuses to acknowledge his daughter's marriage and Helen's father steps in to fill the gap and do the right thing for his 'adopted' daughter. Not Quite the Full Chapati! is based on a true story, a story of friendship, love, happiness, racism and heartbreak. It speaks to all of us.