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{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Whisky Galore
|author=Sir Compton Mackenzie
|reviewer=Ani Johnson
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=288
|publisher=Birlinn Ltd
|date=September 2012
|isbn=978-1780270920
|website=|videocover=1780270925|amazonukaznuk=<amazonuk>1780270925</amazonuk>|amazonusaznus=<amazonus>1780270925</amazonus>
}}
The inhabitants of Great Todday and neighbouring Little Todday enjoy embrocation provided by a tot or two of whisky. Unfortunately this is war time. To date the sacrifices in the Hebrides have included their young men and a token black-out (the harbour lights remain on so there seems little point) but more follows. The water of life itself is becoming scarcer and they're approaching Lent. The timing is unfortunate as they don't exactly give it up for Lent, but drink extra as Shrove Tuesday approaches in the spirit of the season. So, as supplies dwindle to extinction, imagine their surprise when a ship containing practically a million bottles of it en route to America founders off the coast. The community launch a covert army-like operation to liberate the alcohol , fighting, planning to outwit not the Germans but the islands' Home Guard, HM Customs and Excise and an inept British Intelligence officer. Easy then? Well, an easier task than that which local headmaster George Campbell has. He wants to get married but his mum won't let him.
Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie (you can see why he shortened it) wrote ''Whisky Galore'' in 1946 as a tribute to the Hebridian island of Barra where he lived prior to moving to southeast England in two years before. The idea came to him when SS ''Politician'' was wrecked off the Barra coast, requiring the rescue of its alcoholic cargo by Mackenzie and his compatriots. He says that the events are unconnected but we can almost see him wink as he writes about the good ship ''Cabinet Minister'' and the ensuing events.
As we'd expect, the book is very different from the 1949 movie that regularly appeared on TV during my youth, not focusing as much on the rescue mission and the hidden contraband. We are shown a broader canvas painted in a gentle well-observed humour stylistically akin to early ''Last of the Summer Wine'' (when it was funny) and a clever pun or two. (Great and Little Todday to name but two.)
If you've enjoyed this and would like to more fiction about the past Hebrides, try [[Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg]]. If it's the quirky characters and the gentle humour that attracted you, we suggest the charming (although non-Hebridian) [[The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce|Harold Fry]].
{{amazontext|amazon=1780270925}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=9023855 1780270925}}
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[[Category:Literary Fiction]]
