Pittenweem Library reviews
Abyss tells the story of the most perilous event in recent World History from the viewpoints of national leaders, Russian officers, Cuban peasants, American pilots and British disarmers. Sir Max Hastings is a journalist who accompanied the British Task Force to the Falklands War. He was editor of the Daily Telegraph and Evening Standard and has published a number of books about the history of war.
The subject of this review tells of relatively recent events that still have great significance to this day. Undoubtedly the story of Colditz has been written about before. However, this account provides new insights. Ben Macintyre is a master storyteller of real-life espionage who has had success with a number of books such as Agent Zigzag and Operation Mincemeat.
The recently published Bho Bheul an Eòin/ From the Bird’s Mouth by Ruairidh MacDhonnchaidh / Derek Robertson is also is the subject of the last library talk in our Autumn Series. You may know Derek Robertson from his exhibitions of paintings of birds and animals over the years in the Pittenweem Arts Festival. Derek is one of Scotland’s foremost wildlife artists as well as being a television presenter and author.
Our feature review is The Great Passion by James Runcie. You may already have read some of his crime fiction, The Grantchester Mysteries, which inspired the popular TV series featuring the clerical detective Sidney Chambers. The Great Passion is his latest work of historical fiction. Set in 18th century Germany in J.S Bach’s house it is a wonderful read that will lift your spirits.
Our feature review is about the subject closest to our hearts at Pittenweem Community Library and Information Centre – the library. The authors tell the rich and varied history of libraries around the world from national collections to modest but valued personal collections. The Times has listed it as one of the Best Literary Non-Fiction books of 2021 and recommends it as the perfect gift for a bibliophile.
An enjoyable long tale in the Amitav Ghosh shaggy dog style, of the life and pursuit by the law of a poor but expert weaver in India. Circumstances find him caught up in a radical bomb-maker’s exploit, causing him to be pursued across India, then by migrant boat and on to the Middle East with extraordinary adventures along the way.
Professor Bradley offers a truly fascinating and moving account of funeral processions, often conducted in silence and over many miles, when the coffin was never laid on the ground, borne by mourners who changed places reverently. To ensure the wellbeing of the soul, coffins were often carried over water and over winding paths used only to carry the dead to their final resting place.
I have always loved penguins. Over the years as a child, father, grandfather, watching the march of the penguins at Edinburgh Zoo has always been a highlight. I have even…
George Monbiot shows us in this brilliant, bracingly original new book, we can resolve the biggest of our dilemmas and feed the world without devouring the planet. Regenesis is a breathtaking vision of a new future for food and for humanity.
Cursed Bunny is a genre-defying collection of short stories by Korean author Bora Chung. Blurring the lines between magical realism, horror, and science-fiction, Chung uses elements of the fantastic and surreal to address the very real horrors and cruelties of patriarchy and capitalism in modern society.
