Charles Maclean was born in 1946 and has had a diverse and international writing career. He is the author of a number of award-wining books on Scotch whisky and has also written novels and non-fiction books on the culture and landscape of Scotland. Island on the Edge of the World was Maclean's first book and has become recognised as a classic work of social history.

A story like a marvellous pebble, wet from the sea, strange and comic like all things out of step with time, sad as the old songs the women sang, splendidly told