LEIGH FORBES: Books of all Sorts

4th September 2016
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on Map Addict

Map Addict

by Mike Parker. I should have loved this book, and its early moments of laugh-out-loud recognition certainly boded extremely well. But the author soon began imposing his acerbic opinions – about anything from middle-England Tories to Julie Burchill, via Lewis … Continue reading

19th April 2016
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on At the Loch of the Green Corrie

At the Loch of the Green Corrie

by Andrew Greig. The most astonishingly thought-provoking narrative, which weaves together a biography of the poet Norman MacCaig, fishing, whisky, wild camping in the north west Highlands of Scotland, geology, and that link between the soul and what it means … Continue reading

18th April 2016
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on Off the Map: Lost Spaces, Invisible Cities, Forgotten Islands, Feral Places and What They Tell Us About the World

Off the Map: Lost Spaces, Invisible Cities, Forgotten Islands, Feral Places and What They Tell Us About the World

by Alastair Bonnett. The title and blurb are misleading: although this is a book about places, many of them truly fascinating, for the most part they are well known and well mapped (I used to drive past one of them every day). … Continue reading

3rd April 2016
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on Islands Beyond the Horizon: The Life of Twenty of the World’s Most Remote Places

Islands Beyond the Horizon: The Life of Twenty of the World’s Most Remote Places

by Roger Lovegrove. I found this a fascinating read. Lovegrove takes the reader to “…twenty of the world’s most remote places.” Some of these you’ll have probably heard of (Tristan da Cunha, St Kilda, South Georgia), but others you won’t … Continue reading

10th February 2016
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on Attention All Shipping

Attention All Shipping

Charlie Connelly A funny and charming travelogue of the shipping-forecast areas. Charlie Connelly visits those places (on land) that he feels best reflect their adjacent forecast areas. Starting of on the Norwegian island of Utsira, he travels clockwise around the … Continue reading

2nd February 2016
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on The Edge of the World: How the North Sea Made Us Who We Are

The Edge of the World: How the North Sea Made Us Who We Are

by Michael Pye. Brilliantly researched, but poorly written. Michael Pye’s wonderful collection of fascinating historical knowledge is marred by the higgledy-piggledy way in which it is presented. There is a wealth of information about law, plague, fashion, vikings, and trade … Continue reading

4th January 2016
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia

The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia

by Michael Booth. Written by an Englishman living in Denmark, The Almost Nearly Perfect People presents a light-hearted study of the Nordic people. Having travelled throughout the region, and interviewed many people from across the political and academic spectrum, Michael … Continue reading