A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland

When in 1773 James Boswell persuaded the great Samuel Johnson—then aged sixty-three—to embark with him on a tour of Boswell’s native Scotland, the adventure resulted in two magnificent books, Johnson’s JOURNEY TO THE WESTERN ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND and Boswell’s JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES. Later published in one volume, the very different travelogues of this unlikely duo provide a fascinating picture not only of the Scottish Highlands at a turning point in its history, but also of the relationship between two men whose fame would be forever entwined.

Johnson offers a magisterial account of a remote and rugged land and of its people, whose traditional way of life, in the wake of the failed Jacobite uprising, was tragically under threat. Boswell focuses instead on the psychological landscape of his famously gruff and witty companion, throwing further light on the friend and mentor whom he later immortalized in the masterly biography that would make his name. Read together, the two accounts form a unique classic of travel writing, a brilliant portrait of two temperamentally different and very talented men exploring a feudal world on the brink of vanishing.

Allan Massie is a novelist, essayist, and critic whose books include The Dark Ages Trilogy and History of Edinburgh.

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