The book forms part of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee's Geological Conservation Review (GCR) series, which aims to record the ‘current state of knowledge of key earth science sites in Great Britain and [to provide] a firm basis upon which site conservation can be founded in years to come’. This volume describes a number of geological sites in the Northern Highlands that have either been notified as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), or have been proposed as SSSIs. These sites include localities along the Moine Thrust Belt in addition to exposures of Lewisian, Moine and Torridonian rocks on the Scottish mainland and surrounding islands (e.g. Outer Hebrides, Shetland). Following a succinct introduction that summarizes the historical importance of geological research in the Northern Highlands and introduces the tectonic setting, the book is divided into chapters encompassing each of the major geological units. Each chapter comprises an introduction followed by detailed, self-contained descriptions of individual conservation localities, all written by acknowledged experts on the area.
The overall impression is of a scholarly tome that readily enables readers with an Earth Science background to appreciate the geological significance of individual localities within the wider regional and historical context. In this respect, I think the Lewisian, Torridonian and Moine Rocks of Scotland fulfils its remit of providing a (very comprehensive) public record of the features of interest in sites that have been notified or are being considered for notification as SSSIs. It also fills a useful niche between detailed field guides and more general textbooks, such as The Geology of Scotland or The Geological History of Britain and Ireland. As such, this GCR volume would be very useful in designing geological field classes/excursions to classic areas of the Northern Highlands, or for undergraduate students about to embark upon their independent mapping projects in one of these areas. The GCR series also sets out to be a resource for those with a vested interest in the GCR sites – landowners, tenants, planning authorities and ‘those concerned with the practicalities of site conservation’. However, I think a bulky (and, for the individual, expensive) hard copy volume is unlikely to be the best way to reach some of these target groups. A freely available web-based report might have been more appropriate in this case. Nevertheless, this criticism in no way detracts from the content of the book. I would recommend its purchase by university libraries, and by the relevant local authority lending libraries in the Northern Highlands of Scotland.
