Overview

Oliver travels the British Isles to explore the history of its most haunted places and and unpick why these houses, landmarks and other eerie places are so unsettling. For longer than recorded history there have been tales of spirits and of places where our hackles rise and our skin turns cold. Bestselling historian Neil Oliver travels the British Isles on a deliciously spine-chilling tour that spans several centuries and explores more than 20 sites - castles, vicarages and towers, lonely shorelines and forgotten battlefields - to unpick their stories.. Oliver invokes his family's history alongside that of kings and queens past as he probes why our emotions and senses are heightened in certain locations where the separation between dimensions seems gossamer thin. Our landscape is riven with these places, creaking from the weight of the secrets they hold, the echoes of tragedy and dark deeds . From Inverness to Devon, Co Dublin to Norfolk, Hauntings casts an enjoyably eerie glow with stories that, told generation after generation, are inextricable from place - and considers why they matter.

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9781529177558

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Reviews

Neil Oliver is such a very good writer. Haunted is a wonderful book: part history, part rumination on life, and, of course a haunting book about ghosts, both apparitions reportedly seen and heard, but also the lingering memories, shadows and spirits of those from the past. This is a beautifully written, fascinating, deeply moving and thought-provoking book that lingers in the mind long after the last page has been read. -- James Holland A proper page-turner. Neil Oliver blends personal reflections with vivid stories, rooted in the culture and history of these islands - a fascinating tangle of witches and mermaids, drowned fishers and dead warriors, ghostly planes, spectral horses and the 'thin places' where this world touches the Otherworld. -- Christopher Somerville, Walking Correspondent for The Times and author of Walking the Bones of Britain Wonderfully evocative. One of the most enjoyable books on the paranormal I've read. Neil Oliver creates a bucket list of places to visit, perfect for both paranormal investigators and history buffs alike. I was particularly impressed with the way in which Oliver explores the fragility of life and death and our idea of what a ghost actually is. -- Nick Tyler, author of Haunted Yorkshire Book of the Week: Oliver's book offers just as many rational explanations for sightings as it does sightings themselves ... he wears his historian's hat to good effect. -- Mark Mason * Daily Mail *

Author Information

Neil Oliver was born in Renfrew in Scotland. He studied archaeology at the University of Glasgow and worked as an archaeologist before training as a journalist. Since 2002 he has presented various TV series including Coast (in the UK and in the antipodes) A History of Ancient Britain, Vikings and Sacred Wonders of Britain. He is the author of several non-fiction books including the bestsellers The Story of Britain in 100 Places, The Story of the World in 100 Moments and Wisdom of the Ancients, and one novel. He lives in Stirling with his wife, three children and two Irish wolfhounds.

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