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A selection of new Isle of Man titles...
Isle of Man Population Atlas 2 by Paul Craine
NEW - April 2026
Paul Craine : "Ten years on, I have nearly finished writing a follow-up book to “Isle of Man Population Atlas”, It is much more than just an update. Taking more than 3,000 hours to research and write - it has been a labour of love.
The population vulnerabilities that I described in the first book are now full-blown extremes. Births are down 44% in 14 years, we are losing our young adults and we have one of the highest populations aged over 65 years on the planet. The new book has considerable chapters on the main components of population change - births, deaths (the average age of death in the Isle of Man has risen 10 years in my life time), migration (we have people resident here who were born in 172 different countries), and the next census is likely to show greater racial and religious diversity. One other difference is that I have been in Tynwald (Legislative Council) for the past four years and I am much more aware of what is being done - and not being done - by government to address the issues. The next interim census will be held in April - but the results will not be out until the end of the year or early in 2027.
In this book I have tried to relate the Island’s demographics to what is happening elsewhere. Births in the Isle of Man peaked in 2010. Across the British Isles, the births in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Jersey and Guernsey all peaked between 2008 and 2012. Globally births peaked in 2012 and the world’s population is expected to start falling before the end of the century. I have explored causes of falling births as well as looking sensitively at migration issues.
Paperback A4
Isle of Man (Slow Travel) by Emma Craig
NEW - Jan 2026 - Guide to the Isle of Man
Part of Bradt's distinctive, award-winning series of 'Slow' travel guides to British regions, Isle of Man (Slow Travel) is a new guidebook celebrating this self-governing Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea. Written with intimate detail and insider tips by an author born and raised on the island, it offers a more personal, off-beat selection of places to explore than other guides, and its text is infused with vibrant stories and local voices. Easily accessible from mainland Britain yet different enough to feel like a real adventure, the Isle of Man is a remarkable destination in the heart of the British Isles.
With a strong sense of their own cultural and political identity, Manx people take great pride in their blend of Celtic and Viking roots. At a thousand-plus years old, the Manx parliament (Tynwald) claims to be the world's oldest continuous parliamentary assembly, while music and cultural events celebrate the island's status as one of the six Celtic nations. Folklore and superstition are entwined with everyday life in ways largely forgotten elsewhere: children still celebrate Hop tu Naa instead of Halloween, bonfires are lit for Oie Voaldyn on 30 April - and woe betide anyone who forgets to greet the fairies as they cross Fairy Bridge.
Often described as 'the British Isles in miniature', this island of 50km by 21km harbours flat plains in the north, rugged hills down its spine, beautiful sandy beaches in the west and craggy cliffs dimpled with smugglers' coves in the east and south. Whether along main roads linking its major settlements (Douglas, Ramsey, Peel and Castletown) or winding country lanes, from steam trains or footpaths lined with coconut-scented gorse, it is hard to find a spot that doesn't provide a stunning view - whether out to sea, down a valley to an old fishing port or across heather-dappled hills. From basking sharks to four-horned loaghtan sheep, the Isle of Man TT motorbike race to Cregneash's folk village, ghost stories to the Great Laxey Wheel, Neolithic standing stones to the world's oldest tram, Bradt's Isle of Man (Slow Travel) is the essential guide for discovering this under-the-radar destination.
Format: Paperback / softback 232 pages
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
Published: Jan 2026
Isle of Man TT Greats In Their Own Words: Vol 2 by Dave Moore
NEW - Published 29/11/25
Just like Volume One, this is another collection of recollections about the greatest motorsport event in the world, the Isle of Man TT races. It’s not another history of the TT, that has been covered many times and rightly so. These are the tales told by the riders over a beer or two, amongst themselves once the chequered flag has been folded away, stories that never make the TV or radio interviews.
This book continues in the same vein as the first, covering many, many decades of racing around the Mountain course with contributions from competitors who raced wearing pudding basin crash helmets and goggles through to the modern day 130+ mph Superbike stars. Roger Burnett’s TT career may have been relatively short but he managed a Senior win and an incredible ride on a flat tyre during another race. Northern Ireland has produced many great road racers and Ryan Farquhar is up there with the best of them. He rode through the pain to claim victory at the TT beating some legends in the process. There have been many great riders from Wales too and Selwyn Griffiths enjoyed a long and distinguished career around the Mountain course which began in the 1960s and concluded in the 1990s. Nick Jefferies is part of one of the most famous TT families and holds the unique distinction of being the only rider to win the TT, the Manx Grand Prix and the Manx Two-Day Trial. A two-time TT winner Ivan Lintin began his career as a speedway rider before achieving glory at the Isle of Man. There is arguably no greater character at the TT than Jim Moodie, one of many superb Scottish riders to win a TT and he reveals his incredible story in these pages. From reluctant TT entrant to TT winner, Mat Oxley rode in just six races, incredibly winning in only his second one, finishing in the top five on each occasion. Dave Roper is well-known as the first American competitor to win a TT but his story too is incredible, having faced the dangers of the war in Vietnam he then faced the dangers of the walls and hedges of the Isle of Man TT. Les Trotter is another who began racing in the early 1960s and enjoyed a varied and successful career not just at the TT but at the Manx Grand Prix as well while the story of his great friend and rival Frank Whiteway is documented here, a rider who somehow has gone under the radar somewhat despite winning the Manx Grand Prix and then the TT just two years later. There’s also a foreword by legendary TT racing commentator Fred Clarke.
If you love the Isle of Man TT then you will certainly love Isle of Man TT Greats Volume Two.
Hardback
Ballamona Hospital The Complete History by John Manley
NEW - available now
For 130 years, Ballamona Hospital was at the forefront of mental health care provision on the Isle of Man
This unique history examines both the radical therapies provided at the hospital, and the barbaric conduct suffered by those with mental illness before the hospital was founded
Using previously unexplored primary source material and unseen photographs, the text provides an in-depth analysis of how the institution was established and managed, and tracks how life was experienced inside its walls, both by patients and staff
The book also sheds light on the transition from mental health services at Ballamona Hospital to those provided on the Isle of Man today
Paperback
Douglas: past & present, Volume I
NEW - in stock now
Written by Ray Stanfield with George Hobbs and Sara Goodwins
“Falcon Cliff does not denote the nesting place of raptors but was a marketing ploy by the owners Philip Garrett and Carre Tupper in 1838. They wanted an impressive name for the plot of land they were selling by the rather unusual means of a lottery.”
Another in the series of past and present books. Douglas past & present Volume I joins Port Erin, Peel, Castletown and Ramsey.
Volume II will follow in the early summer of 2026.
From the Publisher...
"Putting together a book containing photographs drawn from old postcards always brings home how personal, and often treasured, such items were.
A century ago most ordinary people couldn't afford photography except occasionally a formal portrait to celebrate a wedding. And with its heavy, specialised equipment, and chemical processes to produce the picture, most people couldn't understand it either, so it’s always pleasing when postcards reveal something of the personal lives of those sending or receiving them. A particular favourite in Douglas past & present, Volume I is the wife of the manager of the Granville Hotel whose card, showing the hotel, announces proudly that her husband has just been made manager of it (page 46).
Even rarer than senders featuring on the postcards, however, is a photographer appearing on one. There were a number of photographers working in Douglas including a widow who was continuing her husband’s work, but pictures of them are relatively rare. Douglas past & present, Volume I offers us a tantalising glimpse on page 86, as a photographer is obviously photographing an event happening on the cable car at 12.00. Unfortunately we can’t see what it is!"
Paperback
The Isle of Man VOL IV, Part I, 1405-1830 - Political and Constitutional History
NEW
This is the first comprehensive modern account of the history of the Isle of Man, through the years between the establishment of the Stanley lordship early in the fifteenth century and the Revestment of 1830. Focusing on political and constitutional aspects, the book traces developments through the successive lordships of the Stanley Earls of Derby, Thomas Fairfax and the Dukes of Atholl and highlights the evolution of the Isle of Man's distinctive constitution. It includes coverage of the succession dispute within the Stanley family in the period 1594 to 1610 between the sixth Earl of Derby and the widowed countess of his elder brother, the fifth Earl, who had died with daughters but no son.
It also covers the troubled civil war period when the seventh Earl of Derby raised troops to fight for the king despite the pro-Parliamentarian sympathies of the bulk of the population and the extensive smuggling activities of the population in the eighteenth century which prompted the British crown to reassert its rule. Throughout the book emphasises the distinctiveness of the Manx experience, connected to, but different from the history of England, Scotland and Ireland.
Edited by: Tim Thornton, Professor Harold Mytum, Michael Hoy
Format: Hardback 360 pages, 2 Maps
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Published: Jun 2025
Weight:652g
Dimensions:162 x 243 x 29 (mm)
The Isle of Man VOL IV, Part II, 1405-1830 - Social and Economic History
NEW
This is the first comprehensive modern account of the history of the Isle of Man, through the years between the establishment of the Stanley lordship early in the fifteenth century and the Revestment of 1830. Focusing on social and economic aspects, it traces developments in society, economy, religion and the Island church, education and literacy, daily life, arts and culture, and landscape and the built environment. Generously illustrated, it explores demographic changes, charts the growth of trade, and surveys social and cultural change including the changing status of the Manx language.
It discusses disputes over land ownership, considers improvements in agriculture and fishing, and examines the encouragement of industry. Throughout the book emphasises the distinctiveness of the Manx experience, connected to, but different from the history of England, and of Scotland and Ireland.
Edited by: Tim Thornton, Professor Harold Mytum, Michael Hoy
Format: Hardback 478 pages, 3 Maps
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Published: Jun 2025
Weight:918g
Dimensions:162 x 243 x 29 (mm)
A Guide to the Folklore Sites of the Isle of Man by James Franklin, Sam Hudson & Katie Newton
Published December 2023
Where is the Cursed Stone of Destiny?
Which holy well offers a cure for baldness?
What terrifying creature lurks on Ramsey promenade?
This is a guide to over 400 sites around the Isle of Man and the traditional folklore to be found there.
Gathered from thousands of sources across hundreds of years of folklore collecting, ranging from medieval stories of vengeful saints through to ghostly figures still being seen today, this book offers a comprehensive guide to the breadth and variety of the traditional folklore of the Isle of Man.
This collection will transform not just our knowledge of Manx folklore but also our relationship to the Isle of Man itself.
Paperback 312 pages
Manx Words 2nd Edition
Now in its second edition AUG 2025
by Adrian Cain
A new dictionary for learners of Manx, "Manx Words" is a fantastic addition to the growing material available for both learners and speakers of the language.
The pocket dictionary has been produced by James Harrison and Adrian Cain but has been heavily influenced by the work and assistance of Steve Morris of Swansea University who produced a similar dictionary for learners of Welsh.
Manx Words covers vocabulary encountered by students in their first couple of years of studying the language. Each item comes with an example of the terminology being used in everyday situations whilst there are useful word lists covering numbers, days of the week, months of the year and common place names in the Island and elsewhere. There is also an explanation, with examples, of irregular verbs and the most common prepositions.
Cre ren oo jiu? by Adrian Cain
Only a few left!
Published June 2024
by Adrian Cain
"Cre ren oo jiu?" What did you do today?
A Manx Gaelic handbook for parents anc carers.
Have you ever fancied learning Manx?
Adrian Cain, a teacher at the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh, that’s the Manx-language primary school in St John’s, has written a book, packed with useful, everyday phrases to help get you started.
Adrian’s a former Manx Language Officer and a passionate advocate for making Manx accessible to everyone - not just parents of pupils at the school.
Paperback, spiral bound, A5
Manx Myths, Customs & Curiosities by Lauren Metcalfe
NEW
Dive into a different history of the ancient and fascinating Isle of Man.
From the true story of 'Jinny the Witch' to helpful Folklore Creatures, from bygone Victorian attractions to quirky Manx inventions, this little island is full to the brim with captivating stories to tell.
Manx Myths, Customs and Curiosities brings to you a myriad of historical stories about the people, customs and places that make the Isle of Man unique, with some spooky stories and peculiar facts that make you realise how amazing this gem in the middle of the Irish Sea really is.
Paperback A5 201 pages
Lady Isabella - The Great Laxey Wheel by Andrew Scarffe BEM
NEW - March 2026
A little over one hundred and seventy-five years ago, the Laxey Mining Company began the construction of a waterwheel to pump water out of the lowest depths of the Great Laxey Mine. But this was not to be a simple and ordinary waterwheel - it was to be the biggest waterwheel in the world. Christened Lady Isabella, in honour of Lady Isabella Hope, the wife of the Island's then Lt Governor Sir Charles Hope, it was painted brightly in white, red and black and decorated with the largest ever casting of the Three Legs of Man. A spiral staircase wound around a tower to a viewing platform mounted on top of the waterwheel from where the more intrepid could view the surrounding countryside. Water to power the waterwheel was fed through an underground pipe, invisible to onlookers, perhaps with the intention of deliberately confusing them. Situated in the mouth of a valley from where it could be seen from as far as possible, it was intended to make a statement to be a conspicuous symbol of Victorian engineering skill, of the importance of the Laxey Mining Company and of the wealth which lay beneath Laxey's hillsides.
Remarkably, the Lady Isabella still turns today and it is still the largest waterwheel in the world! As one of the Isle of Man's most popular tourist attractions, it is visited by many thousands of tourists each year.
This booklet recalls the history of the Lady Isabella, how the recent preservation work was carried out and how the waterwheel works.
Andrew Scarffe BEM
Paperback 54 pages, 20cm x 20cm
Blein ny Gaelgey
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