In Search of Angels cover art

In Search of Angels

Travels to the Edge of the World

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

In Search of Angels

By: Alistair Moffat
Narrated by: Derek Perkins
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Fourteen centuries ago, Irish saints brought the Word of God to the Hebrides and Scotland's Atlantic shore. These "white martyrs" sought solitude, remoteness, even harshness, in places apart from the world where they could fast, pray, and move closer to an understanding of God: places where they could see angels. Columba, who founded the famous monastery at Iona, was the most well-known of these courageous men who rowed their curraghs towards danger and uncertainty in a pagan land, but the many others are now largely forgotten by history.

In this book, Alistair Moffat journeys from the island of Eileach an Naoimh at the mouth of the Firth of Lorne to Lismore, Iona, and then north to Applecross, searching for traces of these extraordinary men. He finds them not often in any tangible remains, but in the spirit of the islands and remote places where they passed their exemplary lives. Brendan, Moluag, Columba, Maelrubha, and others brought the Gaelic language and echoes of how the saints saw their world can still be heard in its cadences. And the tradition of great piety endures.

©2020 Alistair Moffat (P)2023 Tantor Christianity Europe Great Britain History

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Faded Map cover art
The Wall cover art
The Reivers cover art
To the Island of Tides cover art
In Search of the Dark Ages cover art
Atlas of Cursed Places cover art
Buried cover art
A Thing of Beauty cover art
The Turning Tide: A Biography of the Irish Sea cover art
On Foot to Canterbury cover art
Ancient Wonderings cover art
England: From the Fall of Rome to the Norman Conquest cover art
The Makers of Scotland cover art
Yorkshire cover art
The Gathering Place cover art
The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places cover art
All stars
Most relevant
It is good, as a historical journey through the holy places of the west coast of Scotland. I am from the Highlands and I love ready of the history of my people.

Moffat is personal and engaging. The story is wide ranging and brings in history from Ireland Italy France and of course the Holy Land too.

However, the narrator drove me mad. He seems entirely unfamiliar with Gaelic pronunciation, he can’t even pronounce the differing ways the word Gaelic is pronounced in Scotland and Ireland (Gaa-lic v Gay-lic respectively).

Macleans Hallig is recounted at one point entirely without the correct expression, and we returned to the prose without any pause.

Despite these criticisms I generally enjoyed the book.

It’s Good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.