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269 ratings | 230 reviews | avg rating:4.96

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Ronald Mackay

Goodreads Author

Born

Coupar Angus, Scotland

Genre

Memoir, Travel

Member Since

May 2014

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Ronald Mackay caught the travel bug early when he biked all over Scotland as a schoolboy. Within a couple of decades he'd lived and worked in the Kingdom of Morocco, Franco's Spain, Ceaușescu 's Romania, Zhivkov's Bulgaria, Echeverría's Spain and Trudeau's Canada -- and that was only the start.

After a lifetime of working internationally, he and his Peruvian wife spend most of their time at their home near Peterborough, on the Shores of Rice Lake in Ontario. ...more

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Ronald Mackay’s books

Average rating: 4.65 · 193 ratings · 85 reviews · 15 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Kilt Behind the Curtain: A Scotsman in Ceausescu’s Romania 4.59 avg rating — 76 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fortunate Isle: A Memoir of Tenerife 4.78 avg rating — 65 ratings — published 2017 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Windows On My Worlds: A Collection of Short Stories 4.75 avg rating — 20 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	English for Specific Purposes: A Case Study Approach 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1978 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Tenerife con Cariño 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Languages for Specific Purposes: Program Design and Evaluation liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Native student dropouts in Ontario schools (Student retention and transition series) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Reading in a Second Language: Hypotheses, Organization and Practice 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1979	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	ISNAR's (International Sevice for National Agricultural Research) achievements, impacts, and constraints: An assessment of organizational performance and institutional impact 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mystery of the Banshee Towers 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Ronald Mackay…

Ronald is Currently Reading

Ronald Mackay is currently reading

Carrier to Classroom: My Unexpected Path from Petty Officer to Professor

by James H. O'Connor (Goodreads Author)

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Jul 31, 2026 01:55AM

Ronald Mackay is currently reading

Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning

by Nigel Biggar

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Jul 25, 2026 07:17AM

Ronald Mackay is currently reading

The Soul of the World

by Roger Scruton

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Jul 19, 2026 01:40AM

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Ronald’s Recent Updates

Ronald Mackay and 3 other people liked Shane's review of BY-LINE:ERNEST HEMINGWAY: "A departure from the traditional Hemingway prose, this book, comprises reportage, essays, travelogues, and war dispatches written in journeyman sentences, the prose the author later developed into the Hemingwayesque style. Having read most of Hemingwa" Read more of this review »
Aug 25, 2026 11:36PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of BY-LINE by Ernest Hemingway. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — BY-LINE by Ernest Hemingway <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ronald Mackay and 4 other people liked Shane's review of Strange Highways and Other Stories: "This collection has a multitude of genres: horror, thriller, supernatural, mystery, short story and novella, and all are suspenseful in their own way. The anchor story, a novella, “Strange Highways,” is one of second chances for roads (or highways) no" Read more of this review »
Aug 05, 2026 11:04PM · see review
Ronald Mackay and 3 other people liked Shane's review of The Afterlife of Stars: "A story of displacement that dislodges family secrets in its wake, leaving death and more unanswered questions, with a new start on another continent as the only option. Narrator Robert, 9.8 years old, and his savant brother Attila (13.7 years), Jewis" Read more of this review »
Aug 02, 2026 09:57PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Afterlife of Stars by Joseph Kertes. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Afterlife of Stars by Joseph Kertes <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ronald Mackay and 4 other people liked Shane's review of Odd Hours (Odd Thomas, #4): "I picked this book because I was told that Odd Thomas was one of Dean Koontz’s most unforgettable characters. I guess, you could say that is correct. I describe him as a 21-year-old fry cook, a well-read psychopathic killer with the ability to see gh" Read more of this review »
Aug 02, 2026 12:19AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Odd Hours by Dean Koontz. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Odd Hours by Dean Koontz <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ronald Mackay is currently reading Carrier to Classroom: My Unexpected Path from Petty Officer to Professor by James H. O'Connor (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 31, 2026 01:55AM · like
Ronald Mackay is currently reading Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning by Nigel Biggar	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 25, 2026 07:17AM · like
Ronald Mackay is currently reading The Soul of the World by Roger Scruton	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 19, 2026 01:40AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Soul of the World by Roger Scruton. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Soul of the World by Roger Scruton <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ronald Mackay rated a book it was amazing Last Train to Freedom: A Young Jewish Family’s Escape from Behind the Iron Curtain by Galina Cherny (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Galina Cerny’s memoir of fleeing the USSR (Ukraine) offers a skilfully written combination of personal experience, clear observations, recent history, ethnic challenges, and the current state of the world Her story is fascinating and informative. The A ...more
Jul 17, 2026 11:03PM · 3 likes · like · see review
Ronald Mackay rated a book it was amazing Walking Wounded by William McIlvanney	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 25, 2026 11:54AM · like
Ronald Mackay rated a book it was amazing I Flew into Trouble: Story of a WWII Navigator by Patricia Calder	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Pat Calder’s uncle volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force towards the beginning of WWII. Jack Calder was 25 with a secure job as a journalist in Toronto. His niece, Pat, wrote this gripping and hugely suspenseful story when, a generation or mor ...more
Jun 09, 2026 11:30PM · 1 like · like · see review