Coll: Island of the Hebrides by Diana Ogg (Dryad Press, Jan '88)

Splendid! An entire hard-covered book devoted to Coll. A textbook for 12 to 16 year-olds certainly, but one that gives an extremely clear and informative picture of the island as it is today. Questions are posed - about the people, the environment, comparisons with mainland life-styles - that are thought provoking for adults too (though some of their answers might be unprintable!) Diana, who is Head of Humanities at a Southampton school and 'swallow' of so many summers, has taken a great deal of trouble to get things right. And, though some readers will undoubtedly enjoy searching for errors and omissions (it's a hazardous business writing about Coll!), I think she's done an excellent job on the whole.

True to form, here are my personal criticisms. Though the population of Coll is analysed in some detail, there's no reference to the relatively recent, encouraging number of younger 'incomers' who've settled down and made a full-time commitment to the island. As Allan Brodie's contributions on the sheepfarmer's year are lifted entirely from our '84 issue, I think the magazine deserved a mention. And the price of £7.95 is steep for a slim book - not the author's fault, of course. Nevertheless, it's unlikely that any similar book about Coll will appear for many years - so fork out for this one.