Times have changed since the old days of the uniform blue Ancient Monument guidebook with dry text and four or five black and white photos; this popular introduction to The ancient monuments of Shetland, with its use of modern graphics and colour illustrations on nearly every page, is clearly designed to appeal to the modern tourist market. There is nothing wrong with that, of course, and many will find this kind of user-friendly but informative publication an asset in the field or on their bookshelf.

Shetland's Ancient Monuments are justly famous, but it is good to see sites not in the care of Historic Scotland covered here too; with discussion of the historical and environmental background to the visible remains, this book is an effective summary of the impact of human beings on these islands over some six millennia.

The photographs, many of which show the monuments in the spectacular landscapes so characteristic of Shetland, are generally of high quality. I am less happy with a number of plans, reconstructions, etc, drawn in coloured pencil, but one showing the original appearance of the Staneydale "Temple" gives a good impression of what must have been an awe-inspiring building. The accompanying discussion of what its function might have been is intriguing, though inevitably inconclusive. The fact that the "Temple" is a component of one of the well-preserved Prehistoric landscapes that stretch for miles on end over large parts of the islands is brought out, and this is probably the most remarkable feature of Shetland for the archaeologist. The "Temple" is perhaps the finest monument of the Neolithic or Bronze Ages to survive in Shetland - in interesting contrast to Orkney with its many chambered caims and megaliths - but Shetland comes into its own with spectacular Iron Age fortifications such as the Brochs of Mousa and Clickhimin.

The interface between Iron Age times and the at least protohistoric Pictish centuries is as yet a mysterious one in Shetland, as elsewhere; the text states: ", for the period around the end of the Iron Age and the start of the Dark Ages, about AD 500, it is hard to identify any houses, and only one burial [a square cairn found at Sandwick, Unst in 1978 - Ed] is known" (30). Pictish Shetland is dealt with in only two pages, and no monuments from these centuries - apart from some minor structures at Jarlshof - are in guardianship. The St Ninian's isle hoard is, of course, mentioned and some of its pieces illustrated. There are important Early Christian carved stones from Shetland. not shown here, and the authors put forward the surely rather controversial suggestion that the church sites they were found at: ", suggest a parish structure established in the heart of the best farmland, and apparently serving the local people" (3 1-2). And this before the arrival of the Vikings

The Scandinavian takeover of the islands, from what may have been a ", demoralised or numerically much-reduced" (33) Pictish population, is undocumented, but seems to have been swift and comprehensive. Considering the pride that Shetlanders take in their Norse heritage, the fame of the settlement at Jarlshof should not blind one to the fact that surprisingly few Viking structures have been excavated on Shetland, and even fewer are still visible. Shetland was part of the Earldom of Orkney, and the Scandinavian impact on the islands is well covered here.

By the later Middle Ages, the Northern Isles were increasingly within the orbit of mainland Scotland, and came to be ruled by a notoriously tyrannical offshoot of the Scottish royal house These Robber-Earls and their henchmen had a discriminating taste in architecture, however, and the castles of Scalloway and Muness - the latter the most northerly in the British isles - survive as witness.

The final part of the book bring Shetland's story up to modem times, with chapters on the rise of Lerwick and on Fort Charlotte - a fine example of an C18th artillery fortification, now rather swamped by the buildings of the modem town, which has never yet seen a shot fired in anger.

Those visiting Shetland will find this book a helpful one to take along, and its combination of attractive presentation with interesting text make it a concise and valuable introduction to these islands - a format it might be hoped will be followed for other areas too.

Niall M Robertson