'I sat with my back against the pitted surface of the Ringing Stone on Tiree's northern shore watching grey seals at the water's edge and lines of low-flying tysties skimming the waves. Further out, a bright yellow fishing boat came and went with the swell, its rise and fall a lazy pulse against which life in the Scottish islands seems to be measured. Exposure to too much of this island magic, I thought, could mark a man for life, leaving him forever entangled in inexplicable enthusiasms for lazy days, bright blue skies, an encircling sea and the quiet ways of island nature.' In this book, Terry Marsh combines his written word with the evocative photography of Jon Sparks to portray the main island groups in all their moods, and to focus on what it is that gives these islands such magical and lasting appeal.