Book description
In 1918, as the First World War was drawing to a close, the eminent
liberal industrial Lord Leverhulme bought - lock, stock and barrel -
the Hebridean island of Lewis. His intention was to revolutionise the
lives and environments of its 30,000 people, and those of neighbouring
Harris, which he shortly added to his estate. For the next five years
a state of conflict reigned in the Hebrides. Island seamen and
servicemen returned from the war to discover a new landlord whose
declared aim was to uproot their identity as independent
crofter/fishermen and turn them into tenured wage-owners. They fought
back, and this is the story of that fight. The confrontation resulted
in riot and land seizure and imprisonment for the islanders and the
ultimate defeat for one of the most powerful men of his day. The Soap
Man paints a beguiling portrait of the driven figure of Lord
Leverhulme, but also looks for the first time at the infantry of his
opposition: the men and women of Lewis and Harris who for long hard
years fought the law, their landowner, local business opinion and the
entire media, to preserve the settled crofting population of their islands.
Roger Hutchinson is an award-winning author and journalist. After
working as an editor in London, in 1977 he joined the West Highland Free
Press in Skye. Since then he has published thirteen books, including
Polly: the True Story Behind Whisky Galore. He is still attached to the
WHFP as editorialist and columnist, and has written for BBC Radio, The
Scotsman, The Guardian, The Herald and The Literary Review. The Soap Man
(Birlinn 2003) was shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year
(2004), while another book, Calum's Road, has been a huge bestseller,
shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize (2007) with film rights sold.
