Columba: revised and updated

A new edition of my study of Saint Columba has been published by Birlinn Books of Edinburgh.

Since the first edition appeared more than 10 years ago, a substantial amount of new scholarship has appeared, especially from the archaeological side. An update of the book therefore seemed timely, and I spent the second half of 2023 on the task.

The book’s original structure has been retained, with chapter headings remaining the same as in the first edition. New information has been added wherever a particular topic required updating, while a number of new themes appear as standalone ‘text boxes’ (grey highlighted sections) within the main narrative. Some of the new text boxes are brief summaries of recent scholarship on archaeological evidence from Iona, particularly the analysis and interpretation of previously unpublished data from excavations undertaken by Professor Charles Thomas in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Space limitations mean that I have given no more than a glimpse of this ground-breaking work, but readers interested in delving deeper will find useful references in the bibliography. The latter has been expanded and updated to reflect current academic opinion on Columba, his monasteries and his successors, as well as on the broader subject of early medieval Christianity in Ireland and Northern Britain.

The book’s plate section of black-and-white photographs remains unchanged from the first edition but the front cover, designed by James Hutcheson at Birlinn, is new.

Additional information can be found on the Birlinn website.

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