The Broken Journey: A Life of Scotland 1976-99

This new volume brings the story much closer to the present day and traces the social and political threads which lead directly to the Scotland of the twenty-first century. There are wonderful highs and devastating lows. Along the way the author describes the oil boom in Shetland, gives a hilarious account of Scotland’s doomed campaign at the World Cup in Argentina and tells the astonishing story of the cloning of Dolly the sheep. In dark contrast he also provides a searing analysis of such tragedies as the Piper Alpha disaster, the Lockerbie bombing and the Dunblane massacre. This is far more than a conventional history: in a sparkling, at times very funny critique, Kenneth Roy anatomizes an often dysfunctional Scotland which is still recognisable today. But as the book closes hope is just round the corner – or is it? The Broken Journey culminates in a referendum and the inauguration of the new Scottish parliament. The stage is set for the future that we now live inâ ¦