The book "Skye: The Island" words by James Hunter and photographs by Cailean Maclean is a convenient means to get to know the island of Skye and its people without visiting there. The narrative gives great insight and detail on the battle the local crofters have experienced to survive on an island which is often described as "one of the world's most beautiful islands." The story of the people is one of hardship and desperation.

The people have fought one battle after another to survive. He tells how the two major clans Macdonald of Sleat and Macleod of Dunvegan constantly exploited their tenants from sending them off in ships to the Americas to make room for sheep (what has become known as the clearances) to trying to keep them on the land to farm kelp. The gentle people of this island were exploited and manipulated. The conspiracy of the island's story is almost identical to the history of the North American Native American.

"And what was true of the North America's native peoples was true also of the island's Gaels. They, too, were thought by all men in authority to be obstructing the advance of something that these same men called progress. And as happened to the Oglala Sioux, as happened to so many others in so many different parts of the world, their lands were taken from them and given to strangers. In the phrase that Skye people used to describe the annihilation of their communities, the fires in their houses were put out. And with the extinguishing of these fires, which had been kept burning day and night for generations, another sort of continuity was ended. The link that bound the present to the past was severed one by one and a culture which had endured for centuries was soon left as rootless as the people to whom it belonged.... there was no room for either Gaels or Gaelic. 'It is not surprising,' said one bard of that terrible time, 'that the sweet mother tongue should die; the deer in the wilderness do not speak and the white sheep have no language.' Such was the great sadness of the clearances. Not only did they inflict hardship on the many for the profit of the few; they also snuffed out much of the unrealised potential of this little civilization on the north-western edge of Europe. And that left us all the poorer." The residents of Skye are fighting back by trying to recover their language and culture with Gaelic playgroups, Gaelic preschool programs, and a Gaelic college. For all our sakes, lets hope they succeed.

The life on Skye has not been easy and this book tells the story as it is. When I finished this book, I felt the author had presented a very negative and one-sided view of island life. Having visited the island so many times I can no longer count, I never perceived the desperation and unhappiness described in this book. I was even angry when I put the book down last night. This morning I came to the awareness that James Hunter presents an accurate story of the history of this island. I am angry more at myself because I could not truly understand by merely visiting a place - no matter how many times.

The book also presents what everyone who visits Skye remembers most - the spectacular scenery. The photographs in the book shock you with the splendor of this island. The book, like the Isle it describes, from the moment you turn the first page until the moment you close it, you are surrounded by a rare and desolate splendor. When I first purchased this book, it was for the stunning pictures. It wasn't until I went to write this review that I ever completely read the content. Oh, I am so much like the thousands of tourist who flock to Skye every year. They look at the mountains, burns, and lochs and miss the real story of the people and their culture. I recommend this book to anyone who wants the complete story of Skye. It isn't all beauty there are pain and suffering also.

This book is available from the Scottish Radiance Book Shelf for $27.95 and if you would like it go to the order page.