Search results for ""birlinn general""

Young children will love these colouring books featuring simple illustrations of a variety of Scottish themes.Contents feature:Castles * Unicorns * Scottish Country Dancers * Bagpipes * Loch Ness Monster * Seashore * Farmyard * Boats and trains * Forth Rail Bridge * Woodland and animals * Scottish food and produce * Lochs and rainbows * City scenes * Tartan * Winter sledging

Read more less

Early on a wartime winter's morning in 1941, the 8,000-ton cargo ship SS Politician ran aground in the beautiful but treacherous seas of Scotland''s Outer Hebrides. Among its cargo were 260,000 bottles of whisky destined for the American market a godsend to the local Eriskay islanders whose home-grown supply had dried up due to wartime rationing.News quickly spread and boats came from as far as Lewis, and before local excise officer Charles McColl could intervene, more than 24,000 bottles had been ''rescued''. Villages were raided as bottles of whisky were hidden in the most ingenious ways or simply drunk to get rid of the evidence. Meanwhile, official salvage operations foundered, and in order to pre-vent what the islanders themselves regarded as legitimate salvage, the hull of the Politician was dynamited.The story is well known through Compton Mackenzie's bestselling book Whisky Galore and the famous 1949 Ealing comedy of the same name. In this book, acclaimed journalist and Hebri

Read more less

Shortlisted for the Lakeland Book of the YearFirths and estuaries are liminal places, where land meets sea and tides meet freshwater. Their unique ecosystems support a huge range of marine and other wildlife: human activity too is profoundly influenced by their waters and shores.The Solway Firth the crooked finger of water that both unites and divides Scotland and England is a beautiful yet unpredictable place and one of the least-industrialised natural large estuaries in Europe. Its history, geology and turbulent character have long affected the way its inhabitants, both human and non-human, have learnt to live along and within its ever-changing margins.

Read more less

Follow the knights as they battle their way into Edinburgh Castle; find the seals’ route under the Forth Bridge, help Mary, Queen of Scots escape from Loch Leven Castle; find the route to avoid the monster in the waters of Loch Ness; work out which of the golfers will make a hole in one – and much more besides. This beautifully illustrated maze book for children features some of Scotland’s most famous places, people and wildlife as themes.

Read more less

Glasgow: The Autobiography tells the story of the fabled, former Second City of the British Empire from its origins as a bucolic village on the rivers Kelvin and Clyde, through the tumult of the Industrial Revolution to the third millennium. Including extracts from an astonishing array of contributors from Daniel Defoe, Dorothy Wordsworth and Dr Johnson to Evelyn Waugh and Dirk Bogarde, it also features the writing of bred-in-thebone Glaswegians such as Alasdair Gray, Liz Lochhead, James Kelman and 2020 Booker prize-winner Douglas Stuart. The result is a varied and vivid portrait of one of the world’s great cities in all its grime and glory – a place which is at once infuriating, inspiring, raucous, humourful and never, ever dull.

Read more less

Raider. Conqueror. King. Saint. This is the story of Olav Haraldsson, the greatest Viking who ever lived. A ruthless Viking warrior who named his most prized battle weapon after the Norse goddess of death, Olav Haraldsson and his mercenaries wrought terror and destruction from the Baltic to Galicia in the early eleventh century. Thousands were put to the sword, enslaved or ransomed. In England, Canterbury was sacked, its archbishop murdered and London Bridge pulled down. The loot amassed from years of plunder helped Olav win the throne of Norway, and a century after his death he was proclaimed ‘Eternal King’ and has been a national hero there ever since. Despite his bloodthirsty beginnings, Olav converted to Christianity and, in a personal vendetta against the old Norse gods, made Norway Christian too, thereby changing irrevocably the Viking world he was born into. Told with reference to Norse sagas, early chronicles and the work of modern scholars, Desmond Seward paints an intensely vivid and colourful portrait of the life and times of arguably the greatest Viking of them all.

Read more less

One of the greatest stories of world exploration ever told. By the late eighteenth century, the river Niger was a 2,000-year-old two-part geographical problem. Solving it would advance European knowledge of Africa, provide a route to commercial opportunity and help eradicate the evil of slavery. Mungo Park achieved lasting fame in 1796 by solving the first part of the Niger problem – which way did the river run? Park died in 1806, in circumstances which are still uncertain, in failing to solve the second – where did the Niger end? Numerous expeditions explored the river in the decades following Park’s death, but not until 1830 was its final course revealed following in-the-field exploration. By then, however, the Niger problem had been solved by ‘armchair geographers’ who had never even visited Africa. Majestic River celebrates Mungo Park's achievements and illuminates his rich afterlife – how and why he was commemorated long after his death. It is also the thrilling story of the many expeditions that sought to determine the Niger’s course and the facts of Park’s disappearance, as well as a biography of the Niger itself as the river slowly took shape in the European imagination. Shortlisted for the Saltire Society History Book of the Year Award

Read more less

This is the extraordinary story of how salt fish from Shetland became one of the staple foods of Europe, powered an economic boom and inspired artists, writers and musicians. It ranges from the wild waters of the North Atlantic, the ice-filled fjords of Greenland and the remote islands of Faroe to the dining tables of London’s middle classes, the bacalao restaurants of Spain and the Jewish shtetls of Eastern Europe. As well as following the historical thread and exploring how very different cultures were drawn together by the salt fish trade, John Goodlad meets those whose lives revolve around the industry in the twenty-first century and addresses today’s pressing themes of sustainability, climate change and food choices.

Read more less

The Moray Way consists of all or part of three previously existing routes: the Moray Coast Trail, the Speyside Way and the Dava Way. Together they cover a huge and varied range of landscapes.This book is the ideal guide to much of what this beautiful and richly historical part of Scotland has to offer. The largest town, Forres, is an ancient royal burgh. Between it and the next biggest town of Lossiemouth lie the coastal villages of Findhorn, Burghead and Hopeman, connected by some of Scotland’s finest coastal scenery and beaches. Eastwards, beyond intact remains of second world war defences, lie Garmouth and Fochabers, the former, many centuries ago, the main port of Moray Here the Moray Way turns south, following a course through the fertile Spey valley. Its many distilleries are part of the considerable variety of interest as the route continues to the resort town of Grantown. A final stage northward crosses the wild openness of Dava Moor, reaching eventually the spectacular Divie viaduct where there is a dramatic change to gentler woodlands and pastoral landscapes as the trail leads back to Forres.

Read more less

Discover one of the Scottish Enlightenment's brightest stars. Among the giants of the Scottish Enlightenment, the name of James Hutton is overlooked. Yet his Theory of the Earth revolutionised the way we think about how our planet was formed and laid the foundation for the science of geology. He was in his time a doctor, a farmer, a businessman, a chemist yet he described himself as a philosopher – a seeker after truth. A friend of James Watt and of Adam Smith, he was a polymath, publishing papers on subjects as diverse as why it rains and a theory of language. He shunned status and official position, refused to give up his strong Scots accent and vulgar speech, loved jokes and could start a party in an empty room. Yet much of his story remains a mystery. His papers, library and mineral collection all vanished after his death and only a handful of letters survive. He seemed to be a lifelong bachelor, yet had a secret son whom he supported throughout his life. This book uses new sources and original documents to bring Hutton the man to life and places him firmly among the geniuses of his time.

Read more less

A gripping true story of wartime espionage. Dundee, 1937. When housewife Mary Curran became suspicious of hairdresser Jessie Jordan's frequent trips to Nazi Germany, she had no idea that she was about to be drawn into an international web of espionage. Thanks to a tip off from Mary, MI5 and the FBI launched major spy hunts on both sides of the Atlantic. This is the true story of a decade-long series of Nazi espionage plots in Britain, Europe and the United States. It shows how a Nazi spy's letter, posted in New York and intercepted in Scotland, broke spy rings across Europe and North America. And it reveals, for the first time, how that letter marked the genesis of an intelligence and security alliance that today includes the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 'Fascinating, gripping and expertly researched... an extraordinary true tale of espionage told with all the drama and panache of a spy thriller' – Michael Smith, bestselling author of The Secrets of Station X

Read more less

Polly Pullar has had a passion for red squirrels since childhood. As a wildlife rehabilitator, she knows the squirrel on a profoundly personal level and has hand-reared numerous litters of orphan kits, eventually returning them to the wild. In this book she shares her experiences and love for the squirrel and explores how our perceptions have changed. Heavily persecuted until the 1960s, it has since become one of the nation’s most adored mammals. But we are now racing against time to ensure its long-term survival in an ever-changing world. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Polly’s Perthshire farm, where she works continuously to encourage wildlife great and small, she highlights how nature can, and indeed will, recover if only we give it a chance. In just two decades, her efforts have brought spectacular results, and numerous squirrels and other animals visit her wild farm every day.

Read more less

Placenames are a constant source of debate. Who was Edwin, whose name is said to live on in that of Scotland's capital city? Are the 'drum' and 'chapel' still to be found in Drumchapel? And which 'king' had a 'seat' in Kingseat in Perthshire? The answers to these and many similar questions are often not what might be expected at first sight and have their origins in many languages – including Gaelic, Pictish, Brythonic, Norse, Anglo-Saxon, Scots and Modern English – that have been spoken in Scotland. This is the essential companion to the fascinating world of Scottish placenames. It features more than 8,000 placenames, from districts, towns and villages to rivers, lochs and mountains, and also includes a comprehensive introduction and maps.

Read more less

In today's world of ready meals and snacking, the value of healthy eating has never been more important. Seafood is one of the healthiest things you can put on your plate: fish is good for the heart, improves circulation, keeps your joints mobile and your eyes healthy, and is packed with minerals. There's even evidence it can boost your brain power. In this book, Sally MacColl presents 50 delicious tried-and-tested seafood recipes featuring produce from the waters around her home island of Mull, including salmon, trout, haddock and mackerel as well as mussels, langoustine, lobster, scallops and crab. Arranged in five main sections – Quick and Easy Fish Recipes, Quick and Easy Recipes with Smoked Fish, Quick and Easy Recipes with Shellfish, Favourite Fish Recipes, and Sides and Sauces – and featuring a host of mouth-watering dishes, from Smoked Salmon Hash to Scallops with Island Black Pudding and Garlic Butter, Sally also includes useful information on buying and preparing fish.

Read more less

Hodges Figgis Book of the Year 2023 Maps are essential tools in finding our way around, but they also tell stories and are great depositories of information. Until the twentieth century and the arrival of aerial images, a map was the best way of getting a sense of what a city looked like on the ground. Through a carefully chosen selection of maps, the book traces the growth and development of Dublin from the early seventeenth century to the present day, offering a fascinating snap-shot of how the city has changed over time. Whilst the maps recount the big stories – the impact of major forces such as the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 or the effects of the Easter Rising in 1916 and the Civil War in 1922 – they also tell the smaller tales such as the creation of a colony of Irish speakers in the late 1920s and the arrival of parking meters and how they changed how people could use the city centre. Together with maps that reveal much about the famous buildings, transport, health, trade, life and work of the city, this book is a fascinating portrait of Dublin through the ages which offers many new perspectives on one of Europe’s great cities.

Read more less

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GUILD OF FOOD WRITERS' AWARDS 2022 On this culinary journey through the Highlands of Scotland, award-winning food writer Ghillie Basan meets a host of artisan food producers, farmers, crofters, fishermen and distillers. From the wild glens of the Cairngorms, the bountiful waters of the Moray Firth and the rolling farmland of the Black Isle to the sea lochs, moors and mountains of Sutherland and Argyll, she discovers a huge variety of local produce. Here she shares some of the best of it: lamb and grass-fed beef, wild venison, fresh salmon and juicy langoustines, seasonal fruits and berries, cheeses and charcuterie, butter and breads, as well as whisky, gin and beer – and much else besides. Featuring a hundred recipes gleaned along the way, ranging from the traditional to the contemporary, as well as the stories of the people she meets, this is a magnificent celebration of life and food in one of the world’s most beautiful places.

Read more less

The brainchild of bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith, historian Alistair Moffat and artist Andrew Crummy, the Great Tapestry of Scotland is an outstanding celebration of 420 million years of Scottish history and achievement. Involving a thousand stitchers who worked on 165 separate panels, the tapestry is one of the biggest community arts projects ever to have been conceived in Scotland. In this book, specifically designed for younger readers, bestselling children's author Allan Burnett tells the story of Scotland through the Tapestry itself - a thing of wonder, full of magic and adventures and mysteries. In addition to opening windows into key moments in history and introducing some of the most significant people who have shaped the nation, the book also celebrates the lives of ordinary Scotsmen and women over the ages. From saints, soldiers and Vikings to kings and queens, Arctic whalers and footballers, this is an amazing journey through the story of Scotland.

Read more less

June 1945. Hitler has triumphed, Britain is under German occupation and America cowers under the threat of nuclear attack. In the dead of night, a figure flits through the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey, searching for a hidden document he knows could change the course of history. The journal he discovers, by a young soldier, David Erskine, records an extraordinary story. When the Allies drive the Germans out of France and victory seems imminent, Erskine is in Antwerp, where he witnesses a world-changing reversal of fortune. From a high vantage point, he watches a huge mushroom cloud rise over London: an atomic bomb has been detonated by the Germans in a last desperate roll of the dice. Captor becomes captive and Erskine is held as a POW in his own land. As the brutal grip of the occupying forces tightens, he is determined to join the resistance. A daring escape leads him and his fiancée Katie on a breathless chase to the university town of St Andrews, where the Germans have established a secret research laboratory. When it becomes clear what its purpose is, David, Katie and their small, trusted band must adopt a desperate and audacious plan to thwart Nazi domination . . .

Read more less

Brother and sister Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn enjoyed a rare bond: they were intimate companions and theirs was one of the most significant musical relationships of the 19th century. They shared and commented on each other’s compositions, each highly appreciative of the other but also offering frank, critical advice. Their travels produced some great music – Felix’s best loved works, the Hebrides Overture and the Scottish Symphony, were inspired by his 1829 visit to Scotland, whilst Fanny’s innovative piano cycle Das Jahr was a musical response to the tour of Italy she made in 1839–40. Combining letters and sketches with an accompanying narrative describing their journeys, this is a wonderful celebration of the two Mendelssohns and a portrait of Scotland and Italy of the time as seen through the eyes of two of the Romantic movement’s most acclaimed composers.

Read more less

A dance was devised in eighteenth-century Skye. An exhilarating dance. A dance, a visitor reports, ‘the emigration from Skye has occasioned’. The visitor asks for the dance’s name. ‘They call it America,’ he’s told. In his introduction to this new edition of his classic and pioneering account of what happened to the thousands of people who left Skye and the wider north of Scotland to make new lives across the sea, historian James Hunter reflects on what led him to embark on travels and researches that took him across a continent. To Georgia, North Carolina and Montana; to Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and the Mohawk Valley; to prairie farms and great cities; to the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia and Washington State. This is the story of the Highland impact on the New World. The story of how soldiers, explorers, guerrilla fighters, fur traders, lumberjacks, railway builders and settlers from Scotland’s glens and islands contributed so much to the USA and Canada. It is the story of how a hard-pressed people found in North America a land of opportunity.

Read more less

The Great Tapestry of Scotland is one of the most ambitious community arts projects ever undertaken. The brainchild of bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith, historian Alistair Moffat and artist Andrew Crummy, it was created by a team of over a thousand volunteer stitchers between 2012 and 2013, who cumulatively spent more than 50,000 hours on the project. At 143 metres, it is twice the length of the Bayeux Tapestry, and its 160 panels features key moment from over 8,500 of Scottish history. This book features a selection of drawings featuring complete panels as well as details by Andrew Crummy, all specially adapted to allow colouring enthusiasts to share in this remarkable work of art.

Read more less

At the time of its construction, the Forth Bridge was the largest bridge in the world, and to this day it remains a breathtaking monument to the vision and confidence of the Victorian age which created it. For seven years, thousands of men from all over Europe worked beneath the waters of the Forth and hundreds of feet in the sky on what was widely regarded as the eighth wonder of the modern world. Sheila Mackay vividly recounts the story of the bridge from its inception to the opening ceremony in 1890. Featuring more than a hundred archive photographs which detail every stage of the project, this book is a magnificent celebration of one of humankind’s most impressive engineering achievements.

Read more less

Few aspects of Scottish history inspire as fervent an interest as the wars with England. The exploits of not one, but two, national heroes – William Wallace and Robert Bruce – have excited the attention of a host of novelists, filmmakers, artists and songwriters, as well as historians. But few have ventured to examine it in depth from an English perspective. Yet there could have been no Wallace or Bruce, no Stirling Bridge or Bannockburn, without the English kings’ efforts to subjugate their northern neighbour. This book explores how Edward I attempted to bring the Scottish kingdom under his control during the last years of the thirteenth and early years of the fourteenth centuries. Despite England’s overwhelming military might, victory was by no means inevitable, and Scotland’s leaders proved able to create a successful front to repel a far more powerful enemy. Packed with detail, description and analysis, Under the Hammer paints a vivid picture of a key period in the history of both nations.

Read more less

The Bruces of fourteenth-century Scotland were formidable and enthusiastic warriors. Whilst much has been written about events as they happened in Scotland during the chaotic years of the first part of the fourteenth century, England’s war with Robert the Bruce profoundly affected the whole of the British Isles. Scottish raiders struck deep into the heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire; Robert’s younger brother, Edward Bruce, was proclaimed King of Ireland and came close to subduing the country; the Isle of Man was captured and a Welsh sea-port was raided; and in the North Sea Scots allied with German and Flemish pirates to cripple England’s vital wool trade and disrupt its war effort. Packed with detail and written with a strong and involving narrative thread, this is the first book to link up the various theatres of war and discuss the effect of the wars of the Bruces outside Scotland.

Read more less

The Declaration of Arbroath, 6 April, 1320, is one of the most remarkable documents to have been produced anywhere in medieval Europe. Signed by 51 Scottish nobles, it confirms Scotland’s status as an independent sovereign state with the right to use military action if unjustly attacked. Quoted by many, understood by few, its historical significance has now almost been overtaken by its mythic status. Since 1998, the US Senate has claimed that the American Declaration of Independence is modelled upon ‘the inspirational document’ of Arbroath. This is the first book-length study to examine the origins of the Declaration and the ideas upon which it drew, while tracing the rise of its mythic status in Scotland and exploring its impact upon revolutionary America.

Read more less

The Shepherd and the Morning Star is a remarkable double biography and autobiography. In the course of it the life of the son, Willie Orr, gradually emerges from under the shadow of that of his father, Lawrence Orr (PB), leading Ulster Unionist politician, philanderer and would-be bigamist, who ends his days in disgrace with his career and family in ruins. Rootless and troubled, Willie himself went through various jobs – in the Belfast shipyards, as an actor, as a helper in the Iona Community. He suffered a severe nervous breakdown from which he slowly recovered, finding purpose and fulfilment working as a shepherd for many years and then later retraining as a teacher. In between times he wrote as a journalist for the Scotsman and with his wife set up a counselling service for adolescents in Oban. This book is a deeply absorbing and powerful piece of writing, a record of mood and emotional development as much as a detailed chronology. Very funny in parts and with a poet’s sensitivity in others, it explores that precarious territory between the public and private lives of politicians. It ends with a glimpse of redemption and healing, a coming to terms with the ghosts of the past.

Read more less

They may be coated in layers of myth and pious anecdote but dig deep enough and the pioneering leaders of Celtic Christianity are revealed as reassuringly human individuals, responding to their faith by deliberately living on the edges of society. From the goddess-nun Brigid and absent-minded Cainnech to severe ascetics such as Columbanus and Baldred, together they demonstrate a close connection with the natural world, an astonishing self-discipline and, above all, a rigorous commitment to what it meant to be ‘pilgrims for Christ’. Establishing a network of influential monastic communities, they travelled from the territories of the Atlantic seaboard – Ireland, Wales and Cornwall – across Scotland, the north of England and deep into continental Europe, transforming the religious experience of all they encountered.

Read more less

Margaret Fay Shaw took her first photographs of the Hebrides in 1924 whilst travelling through the islands by bicycle. It was her photography which first brought her to the attention of folklorist John Lorne Campbell, and after their marriage in 1935 they began their unique career together, creating the world’s finest treasury of Hebridean song, story, image and folklore. Her collection of some 9,000 photographs and film were taken mainly on the Hebridean islands of Uist, Barra, Mingulay, Eriskay, Canna and the Irish Aran Islands, and form a key part of the magnificent Campbell collections at Canna House, where she and John made their home for 60 years. In 1981 they gifted the island of Canna and its collections to the National Trust for Scotland, who now curate the material for future generations to enjoy. This book features over 100 of the best of Margaret Fay Shaw’s Hebridean photographs, with extended captions by Fiona J. Mackenzie and an introductory essay by the collection’s former archivist Magdalena Sagarzazu.

Read more less

Accompanying the immense success of the Hebridean diaries and address books, Birlinn has added a birthday book to its attractive range of Hebridean stationery. Illustrated throughout with Mairi Hedderwick’s beautiful sketches of the Hebrides, this hardback book is the perfect way to remember birthdays of friends and family. It also makes an excellent gift.

Read more less

Writing well over a thousand years ago, the Celtic saints and their followers who penned them reflected not just the cares and concerns of their own times, but also gave voice to the universal human experience – the hopes, fears, joys and anxieties that are as much part of modern existence as they were in the Dark Ages. Meditations on birth, death and everything else that comes in between, as well as comments on the rhythms of everyday life, are mixed with musings on the natural world, the divine and, of course, the eternal questions that everyone asks.

Read more less

A young girl and her mother settle in the woods for a night’s sleep, after a long and tiring journey. But who will keep them safe from harm? A wee bird is watching from the trees. And he knows just what to do. A vividly illustrated telling of a folk tale that speaks to themes of displacement, migration and protection.

Read more less

Scotland has had a uniquely important military history over the last five centuries. Conflict with England in the 16th century, Jacobite rebellions in the 18th century, 20th-century defences and the two world wars, as well as the Cold War, all resulted in significant cartographic activity. In this book two map experts explore the extraordinarily rich legacy of Scottish military mapping, including fortification plans, reconnaissance mapping, battle plans, plans of military roads and routeways, tactical maps, plans of mines, enemy maps showing targets, as well as plans showing the construction of defences. In addition to plans, elevations and views, they also discuss unrealised proposals and projected schemes. Most of the maps – some of them reproduced in book form for the first time – are visually striking and attractive, and all have been selected for the particular stories they tell about both attacking and defending the country.

Read more less

Originally written in the 1440s by Richard Holland, a Scottish cleric who was chaplain to Archibald Douglas, Earl of Moray, The Buke of the Howlat is one of the great poetic gems of fifteenth-century Scots. Believing himself to be ugly, a young owl (howlat) decides to speak to the most handsome bird of all, the peacock, and ask his help so that Nature can change him. But the peacock isn't sure this should be done - after all, Nature doesn't usually make mistakes - and summons a council of birds to make a decision. A huge feast takes place, and Nature herself appears and orders all the birds present to give the owlone of their feathers. But the result is not what they expect. The howlat's initial joy turns to unbearable arrogance at his new found beauty, and drastic action must be taken ...

Read more less

The Clyde is arguably the most evocative of Scottish rivers. Its mention conjures up a variety of images of power, productivity and pleasure from its ‘bonnie banks’ through the orchards of south Lanarkshire to its association with shipbuilding and trade and the holiday memories of thousands who fondly remember going ‘doon the watter’. Its story reflects much of the history of the lands it flows through and the people who live on its banks. This book looks at the maps which display the river itself from its source to the wide estuary which is as much a part of the whole image. It discusses how the river was mapped from its earliest depictions and includes such topics as navigation, river crossings, war and defence, tourism, sport and recreation, industry and power and urban development.

Read more less

Debi Gliori's delightful The Tobermory Cat was one of the most popular children's books of 2012. Based on a real cat known to local inhabitants as well as thousands of visitors to Mull, the island's ginger tom and his extraordinary antics have now become world famous. Young children will love this counting book in which the Tobermory Cat wakes up hungry and explores the town in search of something to eat.

Read more less

One night at Bay Farm, three lambs are born. The mother sheep has only enough milk for one lamb, so the farmer's wife decides to look after the other two herself. Tig and Tag soon show their mischievous natures, and get into all sorts of trouble. But when a dog comes to threaten the rest of the sheep, Tig and Tag know exactly what to do, and save the day. It's not long before the naughty lambs are in trouble again as they try to avoid getting dipped and sheared. Hiding on an island might seem like fun, but they soon find it isn't, and realize they'd rather be at home after all ...

Read more less

Maps can tell much about a place that traditional histories fail to communicate. This lavishly illustrated book features 70 maps which have been selected for the particular stories they reveal about different political, commercial and social aspects of Scotland's largest city. The maps featured provide fascinating insights into topics such as: the development of the Clyde and its shipbuilding industry, the villages which were gradually subsumed into the city, how the city was policed, what lies underneath the city streets, the growth of Glasgow during the Industrial Revolution, the development of transport, the city's green spaces, the health of Glasgow, Glasgow as a tourist destination, the city as a wartime target, and its regeneration in the 1980s as the host city of one of the UK's five National Garden Festivals. Together, they present a fascinating insight into how Glasgow has changed and developed over the last 500 years, and will appeal to all those with an interest in Glasgow and Scottish history, as well as those interested in urban history, architectural history, town planning and the history of maps.

Read more less

Orkney lies only 20 miles north of mainland Scotland, yet for many centuries its culture was more Scandanavian than Scottish. Strong westerly winds account for the scarcity of trees on Orkney and also for the tradition of well-constructed stone structures. As a result, the islands boast a large number of exceptionally well-preserved remains, which help us to form a detailed picture of Orcadian life through the ages. Sites and remains to be explored include settlements from the Stone Age, stone circles and burials from the Bronze Age, Iron Age brochs, Viking castles, the magnificent cathedral of St Magnus in Kirkwall, Renaissance palaces, a Martello tower from the Napoleonic Wars and numerous remains from the Second World War. In this updated edition of her best-selling book, Caroline Wickham-Jones, who has worked extensively on Orcadian sites for many years, introduces the history of the islands and provides a detailed survey of the principal places and sites of historic interest.

Read more less

Following the continued success of the Scottish Maps Calendar, Birlinn is once again proud to collaborate with the National Library of Scotland.This new calendar features more of the most beautiful maps of Scotland ever made. From the very earliest representations of Scotland in the second century AD, through the first printed maps of the 16th century and the achievement of the Ordnance Survey in the 1920s and 1930s to the most recent satellite imagery, these images tell the story of a nation.

Read more less

Duncan Williamson was the son, grandson and great grandson of nomadic tinsmiths, basket makers, pipers and storytellers. In this book, he describes his life as a traveller with verve, candour and intimacy, recounting a childhood spent on the shores of Loch Fyne, work on the small hill farms in the summer, walking with barrows and prams and later with horse and cart, the length and breadth of Scotland. He recalls camping with hundreds of traveller families from the 1940s to the 1960s, his marriage to his cousin, Jeanie Townsley, and all the various traditional skills and arts which must be perfected for a man to maintain his family adequately. The Horsieman is the story of traditions long vanished - of traveller trades, of building tents, of routes travelled and traditional camping sites, of stories, songs, music and cures which have been the heritage and tradition of travelling people in Scotland through the ages. Set mainly in Argyll, Tayside and all stations in between, Duncan Williamson's story is told with great warmth and humour and in the inimitable style of one Scotland's master storytellers.

Read more less

Butch Wilkins and the Sundance Kid chronicles the author's decade-long obsession with televised sport during his teenage years in the 1980s. Charting similar waters to Nick Hornby's classic Fever Pitch, but with the hopeless devotion of a teenager faithfully following his team around the country replaced by the hopeless devotion of a teenager faithfully following sport (any sport) around the TV schedules. It is memoir intertwined with nostalgia, ruminations on the changing face of sport during this time, portraits of its heroes and villains, and reflections on teenagehood and impending adulthood.Sweet, wise and witty, Butch Wilkins and the Sundance Kid is a hymn to televised sport in the 1980s as well as to the decade itself combining humour, insight and poignancy to vividly depict the way sport can transcend the television screen to impact on wider life, hopes and ambitions.

Read more less

Far Field is the third and final book in The Auchensale Trilogy, a series of poetry cycles capturing the changing rural landscape of the West of Scotland. Following on from its predecessors Black Cart and Bale Fire, the book consists of three cycles bound together by footers. A number of poems in the early part of the book are in response to paintings by the Glasgow Boys particularly those painted during their time spent in agricultural communities. Many of the poems are highly personal with a number about family members. These include a series of elegies for his late father. It also focuses on the present day looking to the challenges ahead for the family farm and that passing baton to the next generation.

Read more less

During a trip to China, Paul and Christine experience the nightmare of every parent: their four year old son is threatened with kidnap. The only safe place for the family is the US embassy in Beijing, but they are two thousand miles away, with the police searching frantically for them, and all airports, train stations and major roads under surveillance. They'll have no chance without help from strangers, but who will be willing to risk their lives for them?Suspenseful and rife with the page-turning storytelling that has come to define Sendker's work,Far Side of the Night is a brilliant and timely thriller that offers a penetrating look into contemporary China.

Read more less

In this book, Alistair Moffat brings vividly to life the story of this great nation, from the dawn of prehistory through to the twenty-first century. Ambitious, richly detailed and highly readable, Scotland: A History From Earliest Times skilfully weaves together a dazzling array of fact and anecdote from a vast range of sources. The result is an imaginative, informative, balanced and varied portrait of Scotland, seen not just through the experience of the kings, saints, warriors, aristocrats and politicians who populate the pages of conventional history books, but also through that of ordinary people who have lived Scotland's history and have played their own important part in shaping its destiny.

Read more less

In this imaginative, informative and amusing miscellany, award-winning journalist John MacLeod explores some of the well-known symbols of Scottish culture (as well some of the quirkier ones) and looks beneath the surface to shatter some long-held assumptions that will surprise even the most well-informed Scotophile. Did you know, for example, that the kilt was actually banned in Scotland at one point, and that particular tartans were never originally identified with specific clans, let alone surnames? From bagpipes, haggis, whisky and the Forth Rail Bridge to Andy Murray, Mary, Queen of Scots and Irn Bru, this book is a fascinating celebration of Scotland that will appeal to visitors and locals alike.

Read more less

Tales for Twilight offers a spine-tingling selection of unnerving tales by writers from James Hogg in the early eighteenth century to James Robertson, very much alive in the twenty-first. Scottish authors have proved to be exceptionally good at writing ghost stories. Perhaps it’s because of the tradition of oral storytelling that has stretched over centuries, including poems and ballads with supernatural themes. The golden age was during the Victorian and Edwardian period, but the ghost story has continued to evolve and remains popular to this day. Includes stories from Sir Walter Scott, George Mackay Brown, Muriel Spark, Margaret Oliphant, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Guy Boothby, Algernon Blackwood, Eileen Bigland, Ronald Duncan, James Robertson and Ian Rankin.

Read more less

From the author of the award winning The Sound of My Voice After being sacked from his day job as a business executive, Morris Magellan has cashed it all in – the house, the car, family life – to be free at last to pursue his true passion: music. He returns to his childhood home to escape city life, face his demons and compose his masterpiece. Very soon, things start to go wrong. Not only does his past catch up with him, but the future becomes more threatening by the day. Bad habits return with a vengeance. Then he meets Jess. Written with humour and compassion, this compelling novel, set in the Borders, sixties London and present-day Edinburgh, touches on music, love in later life and, most of all, how to make the most of one’s time before it is too late.

Read more less

The Isle of Iona, 825. In a bloody, brutal raid, Abbot Blathmac is slain on the steps of his monastery for refusing to give away the location of the sacred relics of St Columba, the missionary who first brought Christianity to Scotland. Following a night of rampage and mayhem, one Viking wakes up the next morning to find himself alone, hungover, and abandoned by his crew mates. He can't swim, there are no boats, and the only surviving monk on the island has taken his sword. With only his wits, he must survive long enough not only to rejoin his Viking comrades, but also to find the location of the elusive relics that brought him here in the first place. Rooted in the real history of Iona and its early monks, Columba's Bones is an utterly unique and thrilling read, exploring the clash of early Christianity and paganism, and expanding into a sharp, witty meditation on philosophy, redemption, shame, violence, love, transcendence and reality. 'Stupendously earthy, laugh out loud funny in places, visceral writing' - Sally Magnusson Shortlisted for the Bookmark Book Festival Book of the Year 2024

Read more less