Compton Mackenzie - Böcker

Chester Royde, an American millionaire, travels to Scotland with his new bride Carrie and sister Myrtle, to find out more about Carrie's Scottish ancestry. Their new 'relatives' turn out to be a little more authentically Scottish than they bargained for. Ben Nevis, Laird of Glenbogle Castle, is fiercely protective of his lands and the Macdonald clan spirit, but being cash-strapped he's not above attempts to marry heiress Myrtle to one of his many brawny sons. But then a group of hikers stumble onto his moor and spoil a day's hunting, sparking all-out war between gentry and commoners.

Originally published in 1954 this volume looks at the difficulties encountered by the founders of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China in seeking, a hundred years ago, to establish the awakening countries of the East, British standard of financial probity and commercial integrity and then goes on to relate how the Bank was able to foster trade and industry in the lands to which its establishment was extended and to co-operate in the reform of archaic systems of currency.

In pre-War Europe, the expatriate inhabitants of Sirene are proud of their reputation for tolerance; the island is a haven for anyone seeking acceptance, quiet - and gossip. When the charming dilettante Count Marsac appears in their midst, the islanders accept him as one of their own, especially the Misses Pepworth-Norton, the aging lesbians who form social opinion on the island. But Marsac's vice is more shocking than anyone expected, and when the rumours start to fly, the island community comes close to breaking apart.Compton Mackenzie set Vestal Fire, first published 1927, on the island of Capri (fictionalised as Sirene), where he had lived while finishing Sinister Street in 1913-14. In those years it was an island of exiles and expatriates, settled by gay men and women looking for tolerance, and artists and writers seeking inspiration.