Wilderness Dreams
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Review
Mike Cawthorne's Wilderness Dreams takes us romping through some of Scotland's wildest places: a canoe trip down the River Dee, a blizzard in the Monadhliath, the dangers facing the Flow Country in Sutherland. The heart of the book, though, is the story of an expedition across the Munros in 1986, accomplished on no money and with falling-apart boots, and despite an occasional over-excitement in the landscape description, this is exciting stuff, and it's written with humanity, passion and a touch of anger. For anyone who loves the Scottish hills, this is a book to read. From the speech announcing the winner by Lord (Chris) Smith Boardman Tasker Award Kendal, 16th November 2007 'This is descriptive writing of a very high order. It could have been written by Stevenson, Buchan or Neil Gunn'. Alan Taylor, Sunday Herald 'Mike Cawthorne shows both his talent for writing and his deep affinity with the wilderness areas of Scotland in this book. I read his collection of essays in a very short time, finding each one hard to put down. As well as being a fascinating account of Mike's own experiences of hillwalking in Scotland, his essays are an enlightening education on the commercial greed that has damaged, and continues to damage, Scotland's natural landscapes. Read this book and you'll be absorbed, entertained, outraged, educated, humbled and, ultimately, inspired to experience the beauty of Scotland's wild places for yourself.' Review by K Jackson on Amazon --Amazon
Product Description
This book has been a long time in the writing. While Mike Cawthorne's life over the last two decades has been mostly involved in climbing and journalism, he has managed to stow away a large memory bank of experiences of his times spent deep within the wilderness areas of Scotland. These 8 extended essays begin with a canoe trip down the River Dee in 2002 ("Tale of Two Rivers") and his epic round of the Munros in the company of his friend Dave Hughes in 1986 ("Paupers and Kings"). "Terra Ingognita" deals with the Monadliath mountains, 'one of the last places left on these crowded islands where you can experience genuine solitude'. "Crofting on the Edge" deals with people Mike has encountered who have chosen to live in the most remote and inaccessible areas of Scotland as does "The Hermit's Story", which describes the life that James McRory-Smith chose to lead in Strathailleach, a shepherd's cottage near Cape Wrath. "A Last Wild Place" describes the ruination of many of these wilderness areas and the efforts made by large energy companies to exploit these special places. '...only wilderness if you can be killed and eaten' is a quote by American writer Edward Abbey referring to grizzly bears stalking humans in the Rockies. Mike recalls this in "Dying for Trees" as he spends a day on Creag Meagaidh with a deer-stalking party where a minor bio-diversity miracle has taken place by carefully controlling deer numbers to allow the spread of broadleaf woodland. "Scotland's Alaska" is the final essay on Sutherland's flow country...'the best and worst of wild Britain.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Mike Cawthorne shows both his talent for writing and his deep affinity with the wilderness areas of Scotland in this book. I read his collection of essays in a very short time, finding each one hard to put down. As well as being a fascinating account of Mike's own experiences of hillwalking in Scotland, his essays are an enlightening education on the commercial greed that has damaged, and continues to damage, Scotland's natural landscapes. Read this book and you'll be absorbed, entertained, outraged, educated, humbled and, ultimately, inspired to experience the beauty of Scotland's wild places for yourself.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Mike Cawthorne's excellent series of essays on the wilderness areas of Scotland is centred around his epic 'on-a-shoestring' round of the Munros in 1986 with his pal Dave. Both of them out of work, but realising that this would be a life-changing adventure. It was. Mike's subsequent adventures take him down the Dee by kayak, and into the flow country of Sutherland where he meets squatters who are living on the edge of economic sustainability and reason. This is engaging writing and was commended by Lord (Chris) Smith at the 2007 Boardman Tasker awards.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed this book , which is actually a collection of short stories which hangs together very well.It contained an interesting mixture of informative environmental debate without preaching at all.For me though , the story of the unusual attempt on completing the munros was fascinating, funny and a touching insight into the world of two disillusioned men looking for a purpose.
I particularly liked the part where extreme aspects of hillwalking were attempted in socks !
As an ordinary hillwalker it was great to find a book that was not written by a superhuman or someone doing a challenge for commercial gain.
I would highly recommend it and his other book Hell of a Journey.
I particularly liked the part where extreme aspects of hillwalking were attempted in socks !
As an ordinary hillwalker it was great to find a book that was not written by a superhuman or someone doing a challenge for commercial gain.
I would highly recommend it and his other book Hell of a Journey.
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