Ian Mitchell (author)

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Ian Mitchell is a Scottish author, raised in South Africa. He is the author of Isles of the West: a Hebridean Voyage and Isles of the North: a Voyage to the Realms of the Norse. In both books he shares strong views on environmental NGO's and their effect on rural Scotland. Mitchell is a critic of bodies like the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage, and has compared their behaviour to that of the Nazis[1]. He said of the RSPB's plans for capercaillie conservation:

It is a disgraceful way of spending public money. Their record of actually bringing back birds when they say they are going to is dismal, and people should be well aware that conservation is a tremendous threat to public access.

Mitchell is founder and director of an organisation called People Too, described by him as an "organisation founded to defend rural communities from the imposts of centralised bureaucracy".

Mitchell has also written a book, called The Cost of a Reputation, about the Aldington-Tolstoy libel trial which took place in London in 1989 and which concerned Operation Keelhaul, a controversial British wartime operation.

Mitchell is currently working on what he describes as an indoor travel book about the judges and courts in Scotland, to be called The Justice Factory. He lives on the Hebridean island of Islay and is married with three children and a boat.

[edit] External links

• A letter from Mitchell explaining some of his criticisms of the RSPB
• Critical review of The Isles of The West
• Appreciative review of The Isles of The West
• 2002 BBC news story about capercaillie
• Transcript of paper given by Mitchell to the Scottish Countryside Alliance in 2005
• Letter from Mitchell explaining some of his views