Miek Zwamborn – författare

Seaweed is so familiar and yet its names - pepper dulse, sea lettuce, bladderwrack - are largely unknown to us. In this short, exquisitely illustrated portrait, the Dutch poet and artist Miek Zwamborn shares her discoveries of its history, culture and use, from the Neolithic people of the Orkney Islands to sushi artisans in modern Japan. Seaweed troubled Columbus on his voyages across the Atlantic, intrigued von Humboldt in the Sargasso Sea and inspired artists from Hokusai to Matisse. Covering seaweed's collection by Victorians, its adoption into fashion and dance and its potential for combating climate change, and with a fabulous series of recipes based around the 'truffles of the sea', this is a wonderful gift for every nature lover's home.

Seaweed is so familiar and yet its names - pepper dulse, sea lettuce, bladderwrack - are largely unknown to us. In this short, exquisitely illustrated portrait, the Dutch poet and artist Miek Zwamborn shares her discoveries of its history, culture and use, from the Neolithic people of the Orkney Islands to sushi artisans in modern Japan. Seaweed troubled Columbus on his voyages across the Atlantic, intrigued von Humboldt in the Sargasso Sea and inspired artists from Hokusai to Matisse. Covering seaweed''s collection by Victorians, its adoption into fashion and dance and its potential for combating climate change, and with a fabulous series of recipes based around the ''truffles of the sea'', this is a wonderful gift for every nature lover''s home.

The discovery of a long-forgotten physic garden and the restoration of an old weathered Celtic cross on a coastal headland on the beautiful Scottish island of Mull led the authors of this book on a fascinating voyage into the history of one branch of a famous medical family – the Beatons.The story explores the Beatons’ arrival from Ireland in the early 12th century, when they joined the court of what was to become the Lords of the Isles. Trained in the classical Gaelic tradition, over the years their expertise led them to minister to Lords, Lairds and Kings of Scotland. At some point, one of the Beaton physicians came over to Mull in the entourage of chiefs of the Maclean clan and subsequently was awarded land – at Pennycross in the south of the island.This book looks at the contemporary historical setting, the type of medicine practised by the Beatons, the use they made of herbal treatments (a use which has not disappeared to the present day) and the almost unbelievable survival of Gaelic manuscripts from their library.