Book excerpt: In The Endless Tide, Iain R. Thomson turns his attention to the Hebrides, and the collection of stories that permeate the area. Meeting a vast cast of characters, he ranges from personal anecdotes of country life to political and scientific issues, looking at agricultural politics and ecological debates. North Scotland's brutal Viking origins and the mysterious Pagan practices of its past are explored, yet The Endless Tide's reach extends far beyond this, touching on world events since pre-Biblical times. Varied and compelling, humorous and poetic, space and freedom pour from the pages. Mixing his own personal story with Scotland's history, Iain Thomson presents a myriad of ideas, snapshots and autobiographical accounts which conjure up the vital past and continuing force of the elusive Highland spirit. The Endless Tide is a sweeping, imaginative, provocative work which functions on a micro- and macro-level, examining the continual cycle of humanity, and Scotland's part in the process.