'I have often wondered what I would be when I grow up, but never, never, never did I expect to be a Kangaroo!'When the wind on the moon blew straight into Dinah and Dorinda’s hearts it meant that they couldn’t help but behave badly for a whole year. Transformed into kangaroos, they terrorise the sleepy town of Midmeddlecum with glee. But what they didn’t count on was being locked in a zoo. Things get even stickier for the mischievous sisters when they lear...

The Northern Garrisons visits the soldiers of WWII in some of the most barren and inhospitable of outposts. Eric Linklater, in his mission to document the lives, trials and achievements of these men, travelled to Shetland, Orkney, the Faeroes and Iceland. In Iceland Linklater notes how quickly the soldiers must adapt to their surroundings whilst trying to engage a local population that is somewhat indignant at being 'occupied'. But when taking a closer look, we see the resilience ...

A literary Cheers—filled with British charm and witComprised of an entertaining series of vignettes that occur at the Pelican Pub in Downish, England, Poet's Pub is a humor-filled collection of stories by award winner Eric Linklater—one of the original titles commissioned by Penguin Classics founder Allen Lane—and again available to American readers. When an Oxford poet named Saturday Keith assumes control of the Pelican Pub, what he desires most ...

The Highland Territorials were made up of the 51st Division, who had fought bravely in the Great War, and entered WWII with a fearsome and loyal reputation. Here Erik Linklater draws from letters and War diaries alongside the official table of movements to construct a vivid picture of the battles, triumphs, and ultimately defeat, of the Highland Division in France. Not only do we see the tactical movements, but we get a closer look from the individual's point of view: Men so tired that the...

Originally published in 1935 and authored by a supporter of Scottish Nationalism, this book ascribes many of Scotland’s misfortunes in history to the sectarian wars and those of Edward I, as well as the havoc wrought by the Industrial Revolution and the decay of Scotland’s successive cultures. Reduced to political impotence by the early 20th Century and severed from that contact with Europe which fostered its early culture, the author feels its national life dwindled. Many of the themes su...

It is a tale of defeat, but when defeat is characterised by valour of a certain pitch and quality, its memory may outlast a tale of victory. And like the Burghers who came with ropes about their necks, to offer their lives that a whole people might be spared, the men who fought at Calais, and helped to save a British army, will surely be remembered.In the introduction to The Defence of Calais, Eric Linklater called it an 'interim report', a 'half-told tale'. This ...

En av de stora barnboksklassikerna i ny utgåvaI den engelska staden Medelby uppmanar Major Rytter sina två döttrar att uppföra sig medan han är borta i krig. Det är en önskan som systrarna Dinah och Dorinda omöjligt kan följa. Varje gång de tycker att de uppför sig kommer nämligen en vuxen och säger åt dem att de är olydiga.Snart har de busiga systrarna övertygat en domare om att domslut ska ändras lika ofta som man byter strumpor, de har iscensatt en rymnin...

The Pirates in the Deep Green Sea, written for children, is a fantasy, in which Davy Jones and all the drowned pirates under the sea are discovered guarding the great knots that tie latitudes and longitudes together to keep the world from splitting.

The earlier adventures of Juan Mosely – a lineal descendant of Byron's Don Juan – continue on an amorous adventure to China where he becomes involved in politics and welfare and deals with them in his own practical and fantastic way."Witty and amusing...Brilliant at times -- erratic -- original -- and for a somewhat sophisticated taste." -Kirkus Review

"When the giants fell, old bones revived" - there is the rubric for Eric Linklater's new story, first published in 1949. There may be no historical foundation for his tale of a fantastic war, in the First century A.D., between the giant Furbister and the abominable Od McGammon, his neighbour in the south-west of Scotland; but their quarrel - which provides a background to the engaging love-story of the willful poet Albyn and the delightful Princess Liss - has a real enough interest and no ...

The Next Great War begins, and soon all Europe is involved. The war lasts a year - and then the women, robbed of husbands and sweethearts and sons, grow doubtful of the benefits of military policy, and begin to think that victory will come too late to do them any good.But what can they do? A remedy was discovered by Aristophanes about 2350 years ago. It is re-discovered and re-applied. And it is again successful.This is an Aristophanic comedy, and takes some Aristophanic li...

Eric Linklater was one of the most respected and prolific Scottish writers of this century, yet more than twenty-five years have passed since his last collection of short stories was published.This selection covers Linklater's entire writing life. The settings are as various as the places where he lived - Orkney, India, California, Edinburgh and the Highlands - the events that take place, both fantastic and sensual in their depiction.A strong seam of Scottish history and cu...