May 6, 2008
A. HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY
Journey into Africa: The Life and Death of Keith Johnston, Scottish Cartographer and Explorer (1844-79) Whittles Publishing, Dunbeath, U.K. 2004
ISBN 1-904445-01-2
Based on his unpublished last journal, this is the poignant story of the attempt by the renowned Edinburgh geographer and cartographer to forge a route to the Central African Lakes in the mid 19th century and his fraught relationship with his assistant, Joseph Thomson, who subsequently became a distinguished African explorer. The book examines the social and scientific background to the Royal Geographical Society’s expedition and its aftermath, including the author’s attempts to locate Johnston’s grave in a remote Tanzanian wilderness.
The Road to Tanganyika: The Diaries of Donald Munro and William McEwan
Kachere Series, Zomba, Malawi 2006
ISBN 99908-76-45-2
The unpublished diaries of these two Scots engineers provide a unique insight into their attempt to build a road between Lake Malawi (Nyassa) and Lake Tanganyika in the 1880s to complete a commercial 1,000 mile route to the Indian Ocean – the most ambitious road-building project in Africa in its time. It is a story if courage and tragedy, set against a background of tribal warfare, danger, disease, and loneliness in the central African bush.
Selim Aga: A Slave’s Odyssey Luath Press, Edinburgh, U.K. 2006
ISBN (10): 1-905222-17-3 ISBN (13): 9798-1-905222-17-9
Selim Aga was just 8 years old when he was abducted from the remote Nuba mountains of Sudan by Arab slavers and auctioned 2,000 miles away in the Cairo slave market in the early 1830s. This is the true story of his life, including his education in Scotland, a period as a lecturer on the Nile in London, and subsequently as Sir Richard Burton’s much valued steward in many adventurous travels in West Africa.
Selim Aga: New Light on his Life and his Explorations in West Africa
Journal of the Hakluyt Society, July 2007 online at http://www.Hakluyt.com/journal index htm
Additions to the published book above, including the only description of Selim as a young man in England, his travels in West Africa after Burton’s departure, and the circumstances of his death.
Monkey Puzzle Man: Archibald Menzies, Plant Hunter Whittles Publishing in association with Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, U.K. 2008
Archibald Menzies was one of a legion of intrepid Scots plant collectors in the 18th and 19th centuries, who by combination of toughness and knowledge, established the foundations of the botany of the British Empire. Based on his hitherto unpublished diaries, the book recounts how Menzies, whilst on a classic voyage of exploration in which he circumnavigated the world twice, is the only naval surgeon to be placed under arrest for insubordination by the mercurial Capt. George Vancouver. Menzies collections during the epic journey of HMS Discovery, pioneered the study of North American botany.
* This book will be presented personally by the author at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Monday 11August 2008 at 12.00 hrs. Also at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on 19 November 2008 at 2.15 pm and in Glasgow at the Renfield Church Centre, Bath Street on 27 November at 2.15 pm – both illustrated – on behalf of Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
ISBN 978-1904445-61-6
Alexander Keith Johnston 1844-1879 in Geographers Biobibliogaphical Studies, ed. Hayden Lorimer & Charles W J Withers, Vol. 26. 98-109. Continuum, London and New York 2007
ISBN-10: HB: 0-8264-9913-9 ISBN-13: HB: 978-0-8264-9913-4
A critical assessment of the contribution of A. K. Johnston (jnr.) to the developing science of geography and cartography in the mid-19th Century against the context of his social and intellectual background, including his education, life and work. Emphasis is placed on his father’s influence and interest in Africa, and his association with the iconic figure of David Livingstone and his bête noire, Henry Morton Stanley.
B. SCOTTISH ENVIRONMENT
The Lowlands in Wildlife of Scotland ed. Prof. Fred Holliday Foreword H.R.H The Duke of Edinburgh Macmillan, London 1979
ISBN o-333-24201-7
Scotland, Land and People: An Inhabited Solitude
Luath Press, Edinburgh, U.K.1998, revised 1999 (First published as Scotland: The Land and its Uses, Chambers, Edinburgh 1994)
A profile of the landscape of Scotland, how it has evolved from its geological origins and climate, to its modification by man down the centuries. With chapters on the country’s natural heritage and human impacts, it attempts to explain how this interaction has produced the great variety of both countryside and town which the visitor will encounter today, against the background of historical change.
Wild Scotland: The Essential Guide to the Best of Natural Scotland
Luath Press, Edinburgh, U.K. (First published Scottish Tourist Board, 1995)
Revised, extended and updated 1998, revised 2006.
ISBN (10): 1-84282-096-6 ISBN (13): 978-1-84282-096-4
An overview of the animals, plants, birds and marine life of Scotland, with advice on where to go and when, how to see the wildlife, and how best to photograph it, in association with Laurie Campbell, one of Britain’s best wildlife photographers, who has provided stunning images. There are sections on countryside access, protected areas, and conservation in Scotland.
C. SCIENTIFIC
Colonisation of a Swamp Forest Clearing East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal, Vol.XXVIII – No. 1 July 1962, 22-28
The Form and Development of Knee Roots in Mitragyna stipulosa Phytomorphology, Vol. 12, No.1, March 1962
Growth conditions and regeneration of Abura (Mitragyna stipulosa)
Empire Forestry Review, Vol. 40(2), No. 104, June 1961
D. GENERAL
The Talisman in Integrated English: A Course for Uganda Secondary Schools
Macmillan Uganda Publishers Ltd., Kampala 1995
ISBN 0-333-46152-5
A Sense of Place in Archipelago Vol. 2. No.1 Spring 1998 Newsletter of Galiano Island Association, British Columbia
‘…[McCarthy's] clarion call for community conscious forestry…and his continuing support of islander’s conservation efforts down through the years, have earned him a special place in the hearts of all friends of Galiano Island . His words, as always, carry both weight and wisdom.’
Chambers Scottish Biographical Dictionary ed. Rosemary Goring Edinburgh 1992
Includes biographies of 6 Scottish naturalists by JMcC.
ISBN 0-550-6043-4
A Beastly Story: The Stones of Pictland in Countryside: The National Magazine for Natural History March/April 1993, September/October, August/September 1994. The history and legends behind the animal symbols carved on the standing stones of Scotland.
