Storm’s Edge: Life, Death and Magic in the Islands of Orkney

'A surprising page-turner, full of humour and startling details' THE TIMES **'If I read a better history this year, I will be lucky' TOM HOLLAND 'An astonishing tour de force’ SPECTATOR Longlisted for the 2024 Highland Book Prize From Peter Marshall, winner of the 2018 Wolfson Prize, Storm’s Edge is a new history of the Orkney Islands that delves deep into island politics, folk beliefs and community memory on the geographical edge of Britain. Peter Marshall was born in Orkney. His ancestors were farmers and farm labourers on the northern island of Sanday – where, in 1624, one of them was murdered by a witch. In an expansive and enthralling historical account, Marshall looks afresh at a small group of islands that has been treated as a mere footnote, remote and peripheral, and in doing so invites us to think differently about key events of British history. With Orkney as our point of departure, Marshall traverses three dramatic centuries of religious, political and economic upheaval: a time when what we think of as modern Scotland, and then modern Britain, was being forged and tested. Storm's Edge is a magisterial history, a fascinating cultural study and a mighty attestation to the importance of placing the periphery at the centre. Britain is a nation composed of many different islands, but too often we focus on just one. This book offers a radical alternative, encouraging us to reorient the map and travel with Peter Marshall through landscapes of forgotten history. Marshall's exploration of the nature and ecosystems of the Orkney Islands, along with his deep understanding of the local folklore and mythology, brings to life this unique coastal region of Europe. His scientific approach to the social aspects of the islands, their habitats, and shorelines, provides a fresh perspective on this non-fiction narrative. For fans of Martyn C. Rady (The Tsars, Russia, Poland and the Ukraine, 1462-1725), Christopher Clark (Prisoners of Time), E. J. Hobsbawm (The Invention of Tradition), and John Barton (The Word). HarperCollins 2024