A stunning classic horror story - perfect for fans of Mary Shelley! '[A] wonderful twisted gothic novel ... [an] evocation of a weird and wonderful world with compulsive characters and a cracking mystery at it's core.' THE TIMES 'Oozing atmosphere, this reads like a teenage version of recent gothic fantasies like The Binding or The Familiars: deliciously chilling Elizabethan tale with an injection of horror.' THE OBSERVER '[An] atmospheric gothic chiller' THE INDEPENDENT When Iseabail is employed by a wealthy merchant to be his daughter's companion, she's transported from her humble island home to a grand house in the Scottish borderlands. Why has she been summoned here? And will she ever make it back home? A stunningly atmospheric YA Elizabethan horror set in the Scottish borderlands, written with a unique and original voice. Jane Eyre meets Susan Hill with a YA twist and gently fantastical elements. Winner of the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition 2018; the first YA entry to win.

Who were the Druids? What do we know about them? Do they still exist today? The Druids first came into focus in Western Europe - Gaul, Britain, and Ireland - in the second century BC. They are a popular subject; they have been known and discussed for over 2,000 years and few figures flit so elusively through history. They are enigmatic and puzzling, partly because of the lack of knowledge about them has resulted in a wide spectrum of interpretations. Barry Cunliffe takes the reader through the evidence relating to the Druids, trying to decide what can be said and what can't be said about them. He examines why the nature of the druid caste changed quite dramatically over time, and how successive generations have interpreted the phenomenon in very different ways. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.