CROWDIE AND CREAM: Peopled with characters like Great Aunt Rachel, ''built like a Churchill tank and with a personality to match'', these are the stories of a childhood, of the hard years of the Depression, and then the departure of the island''s young men to fight in the Second World War. Together they bring alive the warmth and closeness of a unique Hebridean community. CROTAL AND WHITE: Finlay J Macdonald continues his story with a witty account of his adolescent years during the depression. Hard days for the villagers, but their sense of humour never deserted them. And when young Finlay won the bursary to secondary school in the Northlands it was with a mixture of joy and sadness that he prepared to leave behind him a community that would soon be changed forever...THE CORNCRAKE AND THE LYSANDER: As Finlay Macdonald set out for high school in Tarbert, Hitler''s growing military strength had begun to menace the people of Europe. But to Finlay this was just one more exciting prospect along with living in Big Grandfather''s house, making new friends and meeting the girls of his adolescent dreams.