October 2016
October's bookshelf is a diverse selection that encompasses a children's book about the Highland clearances, a French thesis on Robert Burns and a disturbing psychological tale of matricide.
1.
| Author |
Barbara Henderson |
| Degree | English Language and Literature |
| Book |
Fir for Luck |
The remote north coast of Scotland, 1841 – the Highland clearances are underway and feisty 12-year-old Janet is the only one standing between her village and the eviction writ. She chooses to fight. But that split-second decision may cost her everything: her home, her family – even her life.
2.
| Author | Roger Windsor |
| Degree | Veterinary Medicine |
| Book |
More Sherlock Holmes than James Herriot: The Veterinary Detectives |
The autobiography comprises Roger Windsor’s stories of life as, first, a naive student at vet school, then as a junior vet in general practice, and finally as a senior member of the Veterinary Investigation Service running a laboratory in Africa, certainly give James Herriot a run for his money.
His vignettes of animal woe and human frailty have enduring appeal, and the story of setting up such a valuable service in Botswana, and helping to build that country’s agricultural and forensic veterinary resources, is truly fascinating. With his particular talent for veterinary detective work and more general eye for a character sketch and a tall tale, Windsor will keep even the most animal-averse readers turning the pages of this hilarious and touching autobiography.
More Sherlock Holmes than James Herriot: The Veterinary Detectives
3.
| Author | Turkuler Isiksel |
| Degree | Politics |
| Book | Europe's Functional Constitution |
- Reviews and updates the idea of constitutionalism in light of the European Union's legal system
- Bridges the gap between political theory and empirical political science approaches to constitutional design by offering a new model of constitutional rule
- Underscores the relevance of political theory in the realm of global governance, and vice versa
- Examines recent EU treaty changes and contemporary developments, including the financial crisis
- Provides a useful overview for graduate students and researchers with a critical assessment of EU freedom of movement and citizenship law
4.
| Author |
Karyn Costa |
| Degree | French |
| Book |
Robert Burns : le poète et ses doubles |
Karyn Wilson Costa’s book — derived from her 2009 Ph.D. dissertation, the second French thesis on Robert Burns ever, after that of the famous Burns scholar Auguste Angellier (Paris, 1893) — is the only book-length study of the Scottish poet to have been published in France since the end of the nineteenth century, aside from Joanny Moulin’s ‘Selected Poems’. Robert Burns (Paris, 2004). If one keeps in mind that aside from Félix Rose’s Les grands lyriques anglais (1940) and Jean-Claude Crapoulet’s Robert Burns. Poésies (1994), the Scottish Bard has been just as neglected by French translators, one measures the potential scope and challenges of Wilson Costa’s formidable venture into the relatively uncharted waters of French Burns studies.
Robert Burns : le poète et ses doubles
5.
| Author |
Shelley Day |
| Degree | Psychology |
| Book |
The Confession of Stella Moon |
Because dark secrets don’t decompose
1977: A killer is released from prison and returns ‘home’ – to a decaying, deserted boarding house choked with weeds and foreboding.
Memories of strange rituals, gruesome secrets and shame hang heavy in the air, exerting a brooding power over young Stella Moon.
She is eager to restart her life, but first she must confront the ghosts of her macabre family history and her own shocking crime. Guilt, paranoia and manipulation have woven a tangled web of truth and lies. All is ambiguous. Of only one thing is she certain…
Stella Moon killed her own mother.
Please note
All of the further information links listed are the external websites of the book publisher, the author, or the bookseller. The University of Edinburgh is not responsible for the content and functionality of these sites.