Island Studies

In her debut collection of short stories, Islands of Decolonial Love, renowned writer and activist Leanne Simpson vividly explores the lives of contemporary Indigenous Peoples and communities, especially those of her own Nishnaabeg nation. Found on reserves, in cities and small towns, in bars and curling rinks, canoes and community centres, doctors offices and pickup trucks, Simpson's characters confront the often heartbreaking challenge of pairing the desire to live loving and observant lives with a constant struggle to simply survive....

Fairies, Banshees, Changelings, Brownies, Kelpies, enchanted livestock, and more are investigated by a renowned folklorist and minister in 19th-century Scotland. Superstitions regarding subjects like funerals, suicides, and murders are explored, as are tales of augury, premonitions, divination, dreams, prophecies, spells, and the Devil—all collected entirely from testimonials made directly to the author by residents of places like the isles of Mull and Skye, Islay, Kintyre, the Hebrides and the Highlands.

In ancient, pre-literate cultures across the globe, tribal elders had encyclopedic memories. They could name all the animals and plants across a landscape, identify the stars in the sky, and recite the history of their people. Yet today, most of us struggle to memorize more than a short poem. Using traditional Aboriginal Australian song lines as a starting point, Dr. Lynne Kelly has since identified the powerful memory technique used by our ancestors and indigenous people around the world.

Best-selling author Brian D. McLaren followed his love of nature (specifically, tortoises) all the way to the Galapagos Islands. There, he paid close attention to the flora and fauna around him but also to what was happening within him, how the natural world awakened his soul in a way that organized religion could not. McLaren's descriptions of birds, reptiles, fish, and flowers sing; he walks in the footsteps of Charles Darwin and grieves that Darwin has been demonized by his fellow Christians; and he reflects on how his own faith has evolved in the years since he left the pastorate.

Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish essayist, poet, and author of fiction and travel books, was born in 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland, as an only son of a prosperous civil engineer. He entered the University of Edinburgh at the age of 17 and studied to be an engineer to follow his father in the family business; however, he soon realized that he was not cut out for that profession. His father agreed to let him study law instead and although Stevenson graduated from the law school, he never practiced law because, by then, he knew he wanted to be a writer.

From a renowned artist and writer, a deeply personal nature journal that includes sketches from her romantic partner, artist Tuulikki “Tooti” Pietilä. In the bitter winds of autumn 1963, Tove Jansson, helped by Brunström, a maverick fisherman, raced to build a cabin on a treeless island in...

God's Country is the first book to tell the complete story of Christian Zionism in American political and religious thought - from the Puritans to 9/11. It identifies three sources of American Christian support for a Jewish state: 1. Covenant, or the idea of an ongoing relationship between God and the Jewish people, 2. Prophecy, or biblical predictions of return to the Promised Land, and 3. Cultural affinity, based on shared values and similar institutions.

The Island of Grace: What Happens When People Read the Bible Without a Pastor or a Church Eighteen survivors of a devastating plane crash find themselves stranded on a brutal, uncharted island. Stripped of modern comforts, societal titles, and the illusions of control, they are thrust into a desperate battle against starvation, the elements, and their own dark human nature. The veneer of civilization quickly peels away, leaving a fractured camp on the brink of violent collapse. But the violence stops when a young boy pulls a heavy, salt-stained King James Bible from the wreckage, alongside ...

Beneath the postcard image of Prince Edward Island lies a truth the province has long tried to forget. In The Children Who Vanished, author Kennedy Rowe excavates a harrowing yet hidden legacy: the forced adoptions, maternity homes, and church-run institutions that quietly operated for decades, but never innocently. Through meticulous research, survivor testimony, and a refusal to look away from uncomfortable truths, Rowe sheds light on how unwed mothers were silenced, how infants were taken and rehomed, and how official records were sealed, altered, or erased.

‘For seventy years now Desert Island Discs has managed that rare feat – to be both enduring and relevant. By casting away the biggest names of the day in science, business, politics, showbiz, sport and the arts, it presents a cross-sectional snapshot of the times in which we live. As the...

An award-winning scholar explores the sixty-thousand-year history of the Pacific islands in this dazzling, deeply researched account. One of the Best Books of 2021 — Wall Street JournalThe islands of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia stretch across a huge expanse of ocean and encompass a...

Peter Macdonald Blachly takes us on an amazing adventure, documenting the 17 years he spent in a spiritual cult, while providing candid insights into the circumstances and conditions that made him vulnerable to manipulation by a charismatic sociopath. His understanding of psychology and human weaknesses, and the lessons he draws from his own experiences are universal, making his memoir highly relevant today. The book provides a riveting account of Blachly’s introduction to yoga, his arranged marriage, and a thrilling and entertaining view of India during the 1970s and 1980s.

In Gullah Spirituals musicologist Eric Crawford traces Gullah Geechee songs from their beginnings in West Africa to their height as songs for social change and Black identity in the 20th-century American South. While much has been done to study, preserve, and interpret Gullah culture in the Low Country and sea islands of South Carolina and Georgia, some traditions like the shouting and rowing songs have been all but forgotten.

TRUE LOUISIANA CRYPTID DOCUMENTATION Deep in the untouched wild of Louisiana’s Honey Island Swamp… something legendary walks among the trees. This immersive book takes you into one of America’s most mysterious and primitive wetlands—believed by many to be the home of the Honey Island Swamp Monster. The Story Begins with Harlan Ford Author, Dana Holyfield’s grandfather, Harlan Ford, was the very first person to officially report a sighting to a wildlife fisheries agent. This book documents his extraordinary encounter—along with never-before-seen evidence found in his possessions....

A random email containing what purports to be news of the Lost Temple of Solomon sends day-dreaming New York-based reporter Matthew Fishbane on a journey halfway around the world - to the Solomon Islands. There, in the remote jungles of Malaita, he encounters self-described Melanesian Israelites with apocalyptic visions, dreamers guarding archaeological ruins of unknown but apparently ancient provenance, and a warlord who rallied an ethnic militia under the Star of David, as well as canny modern politicians who are leveraging the tiny island nation's greatest asset - sovereignty - for development assistance from the modern Jewish state.

World War II was a truly global conflict, but no theatre of the war tested the limits of human endurance, strategy, and brutality like the Pacific. In Island by Island: The Pacific War in Brutal Detail, author Cyril Marlen delivers a visceral, unflinching account of the long, bitter struggle between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan. This is not a broad-strokes overview—it’s a deep dive into the raw, punishing reality of the Pacific War, told through vivid detail, gripping analysis, and a relentless focus on the battles that defined the ocean-spanning campaign.

Another classic thriller retold! A murdered freelance spy, espionage, conspiracy, join forces to spur Richard Hannay to expose the German spies who are trying to steal British plans for the outbreak of what would become known as The Great War. Join Hannay as he desperately attempts to evade both police and the Reich’s operatives who are seeking his death, as he races against time to warn the proper authorities. Improved, don’t y’know: - Over 1,000 out of date words and expressions defined seamlessly within the text. - Many obsolete grammatical arrangements corrected. - Historical ...

In Treasure Island, the story starts when a drunken sailor named Billy Bones arrives at the inn owned by Jim Hawkins' father. Bones stays at the inn for some time without paying his bills. He askes Jim, a 12-year-old boy, to watch for his former shipmates who are after his valuables. When shipmates eventually arrive and Bones mysteriously dies, Jim opens his chest and finds a treasure map.

Embark on a captivating journey through the beloved classic, Treasure Island. In this insightful guide, author Kristi Simonson invites readers to dive deep into the heart of Robert Louis Stevenson’s timeless tale with an engaging approach that sparks curiosity and discussion. With thoughtfully...

A graded reader for learners of English (EFL) Level 2 - A1/A2 Starter (2) Word count: 7,293 George is a tour guide on Whale Island in Scotland. One day, a member of his tour group dies. George finds the man's dead body at the bottom of the cliffs next to the sea. Did he fall? Or did someone push him? George thinks someone killed the man. There are six other members of the tour group. Which one is the killer?