In 1938 John Lorne Campbell bought the Hebridean isle of Canna. He wanted to prevent it becoming a rich man's playground (like so many other islands and Highland estates), to preserve a part of traditional Gaelic culture and show that efficient farming methods could be compatible with wildlife conservation and sustainability. But his determination to get the island left him burdened by debt, and even after he gave it to the National Trust for Scotland in 1981 he still had to fight to secure his legacy.

This acclaimed book is an insightful and human portrait of one of the twentieth century's most significant scholars of the Gaelic world, and of his 60-year partnership with Margaret Fay Shaw, who together created the world-famous library of Gaelic song and other material at Canna House.

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Foreword: The House of Contradictions
• 1. The Honoured Ancestor
• 2. A Divided Family
• 3. Homeless and Jobless
• 4. A Classless Society
• 5. A Bird Blown Off Course
• 6. Recording a Vanishing Culture
• 7. Absent Neighbours
• 8. The Isle of Canna
• 9. Into Ownership
• 10. Into Debt
• 11. War and Hard Times
• 12. Turning the Tide
• 13. A Voice for the Voiceless
• 14. The End of Inverneill
• 15. Illuminating the Celtic Twilight
• 16. Recognition and Contentment
• 17. Fighting for a Lifeline
• 18. A Succession Problem
• 19. The Old Order Changes
• 20. Despair and Recovery
• 21. Who Can Tell His Place of Dying?
• 22. Essay: Return to Canna
• Selected Bibliography
• Notes and References
• Index