Western Tibet and the British Borderland

EUROPE

The Irish in Scotland (1798–1845). By James Edmund Handley. Demy 8vo. Pp. ix+313+xix. Cork : University Press, 1943. Price 10s. 6d.

British Woodland Trees. By H. L. Edlin. Demy 8vo. Pp. ix+182. 133 illustrations. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd., 1944. Price 12s. 6d.

Brenva. By T. Graham Brown. Demy 8vo. Pp. xv+227. 72 photographs. 4 maps. London : J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1944. Price 25s.

British Survey Handbooks. 2. Rumania. By C. Kormos. Fcap. 8vo. Pp. vii+122. Map. Cambridge : University Press, 1944. Price 3s.

British Survey Handbooks. 3. Greece. Compiled by Kathleen Gibberd. Fcap. 8vo. Pp. vii+106. Map. Cambridge : University Press, 1944. Price 3s.

The U.S.S.R. : An Economic and Social Survey. By S. P. Turin, D.Sc. (Econ.). Demy 8vo. Pp. xiii+219. 8 maps, 16 diagrams, 63 statistical tables. London : Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1944. Price 16s.

ASIA

China. By A. G. Wenley and John A. Pope. Med. 8vo. Pp. v+85. 25 plates. 7 sketch maps. 3 figs. Smithsonian Institution War Background Studies No. 20. Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution, 1944.

AUSTRALASIA

Mew Zealand: A Working Democracy. By Walter Nash. Demy 8vo. Pp. vii+290. Frontispiece. 1 map. London : J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1944. Price 8s. 6d.

GEOMORPHOLOGY

Volcanoes as Landscape Forms. By C. A. Cotton. Demy 8vo. Pp. 416. Frontispiece. 223 figs. Christchurch, N.Z., and London : Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd., 1944. Price 32s. 6d.

OCEANOGRAPHY

Pacific Ocean Handbook. By Eliot G. Mears. 7x4 inches. Pp. x+198. 58 figs. 7 maps. Stanford University, California : James Ladd Delkin, 1944. Price $2.00.

EDUCATIONAL

The British Isles : A School Certificate Geography. By S. J. B. Whybrow, B.Sc, F.R.G.S. Crown 8vo. Pp. x+196. 66 sketch maps. 20 photographs. London : J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1944. Price 3s.

GENERAL

International River and Canal Transport. By Brig.‐Gen. Sir Osborne Mance, K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., assisted by J. E. Wheeler. Demy 8vo. Pp. viii+115. 2 maps. Issued under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. London : Oxford University Press, 1944. Price 10s. 6d.

Heresies and Humours. By Major C. S. Jarvis, C.M.G., O.B.E. Demy 8vo. Pp.176. Illustrated by R. A. Young. London : Country Life Ltd., 1943. Price 8s 6d.     

New challenges for old commons: The role of historical common land in contemporary rural spaces

In Scotland, as elsewhere in Western Europe, many examples of historical common land have endured to the present day, but are under major pressure from the economic restructuring, socio-cultural recomposition and changing policy context that characterise contemporary rural change. For the crofting common grazings of Scotland, two particular challenges have arisen in the form of: (1) the growing difficulty of gaining sufficient livelihood contributions from traditional agriculturally-based activities; and (2) the increasing heterogeneity of rights-holders. This paper elaborates the findings of a recent survey, which sought to identify the main implications of these challenges for common grazings use and governance. An overall decline in levels of use of common grazings was identified, as well as decreasing involvement and investment in associated local institutions. This informs a discussion of the factors shaping the role of historical common land in contemporary rural spaces, an area neglected in the common property literature.     

Contesting land,creating community,in the Highlands and Islands,Scotland

This paper draws on research in four communities in the Highlands and Islands, Scotland, to explore how the notion of community and community identity are re‐worked in the political spaces created as communities claim collective rights to land. In the cases of the Assynt Crofters’ Trust, the Bhaltos Community Trust, and Laid, this has concerned land under crofting tenure; in the case of the claim of the North Sutherland Community Forestry Trust, the land on which the Naver Forests stand is the responsibility of the Scottish Ministers and is managed by Forest Enterprise. The four case studies differ with respect to membership and institutional practices and thus provide fertile ground on which to examine, comparatively, collective struggles for the land and the search for sustainable futures.