THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

Taking the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume as its subject, this book breaks new ground in focusing its lens on a little-studied aspect of Hume’s thinking: his understanding of money.George Caffentzis makes both an intervention in the field of monetary philosophy and into Marxian conceptions of the relation between philosophy and capitalist development. He vividly charts the ways in which Hume’s philosophy directly informed the project of ‘civilizing’ the people of the Scottish Highlands and pacifying the English proletariat in response to the revolts of both groups at the heart of the empire.Built on careful historical and philosophical detective work, Civilizing Money offers a stimulating and radical political reading of the ways in which Hume’s fundamental philosophical claims performed concrete political functions.

Taking the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume as its subject, this book breaks new ground in focusing its lens on a little-studied aspect of Hume’s thinking: his understanding of money.George Caffentzis makes both an intervention in the field of monetary philosophy and into Marxian conceptions of the relation between philosophy and capitalist development. He vividly charts the ways in which Hume’s philosophy directly informed the project of ‘civilizing’ the people of the Scottish Highlands and pacifying the English proletariat in response to the revolts of both groups at the heart of the empire.Built on careful historical and philosophical detective work, Civilizing Money offers a stimulating and radical political reading of the ways in which Hume’s fundamental philosophical claims performed concrete political functions.

The destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988 was the largest attack on Britain since World War Two. 259 passengers and 11 townsfolk of Lockerbie were murdered. Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of the crime. He maintained his innocence until his death in 2012.Among the passengers was Flora, beloved daughter of Dr Jim Swire. Jim accepted American claims that Libya was responsible, but during the Lockerbie Trial he began to distrust key witnesses and supposed firm evidence. Since then it has been revealed that the USA paid millions of dollars to two central identification witnesses, and the only forensic evidence central to the prosecution has been discredited.The book takes us along Dr. Swire’s journey as his initial grief and loss becomes a campaign to uncover the truth behind not only a personal tragedy but one of the modern world’s most shocking events.

Betrothed by dutyTo his enemy!To strengthen an alliance between their clans, future chieftain of the mighty Cameron Clan, Robbie Cameron, must marry Sheena MacLerie. Only she is the last person he would have picked after her betrayal years ago. Now she is as infuriatingly elusive as ever-and, worse, seems intent on breaking their betrothal! Just what is his inconvenient bride hiding? Uncovering her secrets means earning her trust…but that also ignites a simmering passion!The Highlander’s Inconvenient Bride is a crossover story – connecting The MacLerie Clan series with the A Highland Feuding series!

The Killing Tide is a gripping crime novel by Lin Anderson featuring forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod.After a fierce storm hits Scotland, a mysterious cargo ship is swept ashore in the Orkney Isles. Boarding the vessel uncovers three bodies, recently deceased and in violent circumstances. Forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod’s study of the crime scene suggests that a sinister game was being played on board, but who were the hunters? And who the hunted?Meanwhile in Glasgow DS Michael McNab is called to a horrific incident where a young woman has been set on fire. Or did she spark the flames herself?As evidence arises that connects the two cases, the team grow increasingly concerned that the truth of what happened on the ship and in Glasgow hints at a wider conspiracy that stretches down to London and beyond to a global stage. Orcadian Ava Clouston, renowned investigative journalist, believes so and sets out to prove it, putting herself in grave danger.When the Met Police challenge Police Scotland’s jurisdiction, it becomes obvious that there are ruthless individuals who are willing to do whatever it takes to protect government interests. Which could lead to even more deaths on Scottish soil . . .

Betrothed by dutyTo his enemy!To strengthen an alliance between their clans, future chieftain of the mighty Cameron Clan, Robbie Cameron, must marry Sheena MacLerie. Only, she is the last person he would have picked – after her betrayal years ago. Now she is as infuriatingly elusive as ever, and worse, seems intent on breaking their betrothal! Just what is his inconvenient bride hiding? Uncovering her secrets means earning her trust – but that also ignites a simmering passion!The Highlander’s Inconvenient Bride is a crossover story – connecting The MacLerie Clan series with the A Highland Feuding series!

“Doyle’s modesty of language conceals a profound tolerance of the human complexity”-John Le Carre”Every writer owes something to Holmes.” -T.S. EliotWith its blend of gothic and detective genres, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), sets forth the mysterious investigation taken on by Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson in the disquieting moors of Dartmoor. On the grounds of an English country manor, Baskerville Hall, a prominent baronet’s death is feared more than an alleged heart attack; huge footprints near the body allude that the family curse of a monstrous hound could be the culprit.When a country physician, Dr. Mortimer, visits Detective Holmes and Watson in London he reveals that the heir of the Baskerville lineage, Sir Henry Baskerville, is at mortal risk amid a mysterious and possibly supernatural danger. Mortimer’s friend Sir Charles Baskerville, the elder brother of Henry, had recently died on the grounds of the manor. The discovery of the huge footprints of a large creature near the body raised the question whether he was slain by a phantom beast that stalked the moors surrounding Baskerville Hall. The Baskerville clan had been haunted by a terrifying ghostly hound for generations, and Charles had become fearsome of the legendary curse. As Henry had received a letter urging him to stay away from the manor,Holmes is skeptical of the theory of the abomination and is unflinching in uncovering the truth.The Hound of the Baskervilles was the first novel to feature Sherlock Holmes since his alleged death in the short story “the final problem”, published in The Strand Magazine in 1893. Sherlock Holmes fans were ecstatic at his ‘resurrection’ with this novel, which continues to captive readers to this day.With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles is both modern and readable.

The classic tale of espionage set in Cold War Europe, where the world’s greatest circus acrobat must break into an impenetrable fortress, from the acclaimed master of action and suspense.Bruno Wildermann of the Wrinfield Circus is the world’s greatest trapeze artist, a clairvoyant with near-supernatural powers and an implacable enemy of the East European regime that arrested his family and murdered his wife.The CIA needs such a man, and recruits Bruno for an impossible raid – on the impreganble Lubylan fortress, where his family is held.Under cover of a circus tour, Bruno prepares to return to his homeland. But before the journey even begins a murderer strikes twice. Somewhere in the circus there is a communist agent with orders to stop Bruno at any cost…

After giving up a hectic life as a journalist in Europe and Hollywood in the late 1960s to return to his boyhood love of nature, Mike Tomkies moved to Eilean Shona, a remote island off the west coast of Scotland.There he rebuilt an abandoned croft house and began a new way of life observing nature. He tracked foxes and stags, made friends with seals and taught an injured sparrow-hawk to hunt for itself. It was the indomitable spirit of this tiny bird that taught Tomkies what it takes for any of us to be truly free. Whether he was fishing, growing his own food or battling through stormy seas in a tiny boat, he learned that he could survive in the harsh environment.This is the astonishing story of daring to take the first step away from urban routines and embracing a harsh yet immensely rewarding way of life which, in turn, led Tomkies to an even more remote location and inspired an acclaimed series of books on various animals and the challenges and joys of living in remote places.

In a life stranger than any fiction, Grace O’Malley, daughter of a clan chief in the far west of Ireland, went from marriage at fifteen to piracy on the high seas. She soon had a fleet of galleys under her commander, but her three decades of plundering, kidnapping, murder and mayhem came to a close in 1586, when she was captured and sentenced to hang.Saved from the scaffold by none other than Queen Elizabeth herself – another powerful woman in a man’s world – Grace’s life took another extraordinary turn, when it was rumoured she had become intelligencer for the queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham. Was this the price of her freedom?Judith Cook explores this and other questions about the life and times of this remarkable woman in a fascinating, thrilling and impeccably researched book.

“One of the swimmers plunged underwater with a flick of his long, dolphin-like tail. The other followed, sending an arc of spray shooting upwards, tail slapping against the choppy waves.”In the quiet Scottish seaside village of Dunlyre, Finn is enduring a winter holiday with his annoying new stepmother, wishing things could go back to how they were, while Sage is enjoying her new home, wishing things would stay as they are.Finn has seen mysterious swimmers in the Firth late at night. Then, from the clifftop, first Sage, then Finn, hears an eerie song. Could the local legend of merfolk living amid the waves actually be true? When the new friends meet the magical sea-people, they are amazed and impressed, but the merfolk are hiding a secret. The two human children must put aside their own problems and help in the battle against the young merfolk’s ancient underwater enemy before the last of their kind are lost forever.From the author of the much-loved Guardians of the Wild Unicorns, Secrets of the Last Merfolk is an exciting fantasy adventure that reimagines the mythical sea-people as powerful, proud and fearless.

“One of the swimmers plunged underwater with a flick of his long, dolphin-like tail. The other followed, sending an arc of spray shooting upwards, tail slapping against the choppy waves.”In the quiet Scottish seaside village of Dunlyre, Finn is enduring a winter holiday with his annoying new stepmother, wishing things could go back to how they were, while Sage is enjoying her new home, wishing things would stay as they are.Finn has seen mysterious swimmers in the Firth late at night. Then, from the clifftop, first Sage, then Finn, hears an eerie song. Could the local legend of merfolk living amid the waves actually be true? When the new friends meet the magical sea-people, they are amazed and impressed, but the merfolk are hiding a secret. The two human children must put aside their own problems and help in the battle against the young merfolk’s ancient underwater enemy before the last of their kind are lost forever.From the author of the much-loved Guardians of the Wild Unicorns, Secrets of the Last Merfolk is an exciting fantasy adventure that reimagines the mythical sea-people as powerful, proud and fearless.

For DI Colin Anderson, there’s no such simple thing as right and wrong.As his seemingly clear-cut conviction of paedophile Skelpie Fairbairn is declared unsafe, Anderson finds himself under investigation. Pressure on the DI mounts as an elusive criminal mastermind known as the Puppeteer seems to be the link in a series of alarming events: a gangster torched alive; a teenage boy tortured then dropped off a bridge; and the suicide of a cop working on a decades-old, unsolved child kidnapping.When a young girl dies in Anderson’s arms after being left to drown, he is at his wits’ end. With Fairbairn as his only lead, is he prepared to dance with the devil to solve her murder?

The Killing Tide is a gripping crime novel by Lin Anderson featuring forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod.After a fierce storm hits Scotland, a mysterious cargo ship is swept ashore in the Orkney Isles. Boarding the vessel uncovers three bodies, recently deceased and in violent circumstances. Forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod’s study of the crime scene suggests that a sinister game was being played on board, but who were the hunters? And who the hunted?Meanwhile in Glasgow DS Michael McNab is called to a horrific incident where a young woman has been set on fire. Or did she spark the flames herself?As evidence arises that connects the two cases, the team grow increasingly concerned that the truth of what happened on the ship and in Glasgow hints at a wider conspiracy that stretches down to London and beyond to a global stage. Orcadian Ava Clouston, renowned investigative journalist, believes so and sets out to prove it, putting herself in grave danger.When the Met Police challenge Police Scotland’s jurisdiction, it becomes obvious that there are ruthless individuals who are willing to do whatever it takes to protect government interests. Which could lead to even more deaths on Scottish soil . . .

The Killing Tide is a gripping crime novel by Lin Anderson featuring forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod.After a fierce storm hits Scotland, a mysterious cargo ship is swept ashore in the Orkney Isles. Boarding the vessel uncovers three bodies, recently deceased and in violent circumstances. Forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod’s study of the crime scene suggests that a sinister game was being played on board, but who were the hunters? And who the hunted?Meanwhile in Glasgow DS Michael McNab is called to a horrific incident where a young woman has been set on fire. Or did she spark the flames herself?As evidence arises that connects the two cases, the team grow increasingly concerned that the truth of what happened on the ship and in Glasgow hints at a wider conspiracy that stretches down to London and beyond to a global stage. Orcadian Ava Clouston, renowned investigative journalist, believes so and sets out to prove it, putting herself in grave danger.When the Met Police challenge Police Scotland’s jurisdiction, it becomes obvious that there are ruthless individuals who are willing to do whatever it takes to protect government interests. Which could lead to even more deaths on Scottish soil . . .

Win. Lose. Survive.

I was the boy with a plan. Now I am the boy with nothing.

From the moment 12-year-old Kylan hatches a plan to escape from his Norse captors, and return to Scotland to find his mother, his life becomes a dangerous game.

The precious Lewis Chessmen―which he helped carve―hold the key to his freedom, but he will need all his courage and wit to triumph against Sven Asleifsson, the cruellest Viking in the realm.

One false move could cost him his life.

Kilometer Zero takes us back to Vuelta a España of 2019, where Primož achieved his first Grand Tour victory. The book is written in three parts, all incredibly well interweaved. On one hand it serves nearly as an introduction to cycling, explaining the written and unwritten rules of this sport, where it seems you are free as a bird, but you are much more part of a team than in many “proper” team sports. On the other it takes us on an emotional roller-coaster ride, through moments of pain, suffering, sadness, loneliness, yet incredible gratefulness, happiness and most of all, love. All following the twenty-one stages and two rest days of La Vuelta.

It is a story about the man who stole the hearts of the cycling world, written by the woman, who stole his. A true writer, whose thoughts are deposited on paper with such captivating emotion and touch, that you will not be able to put the book down. And you will not want it to end.

Land reform is as topical as ever in Scotland. Following the latest legislative development, the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016, there is a need for a comprehensive and comprehensible analysis of the history, developing framework and impact of Scottish land reform. Scholarly yet jargon-free, this landmark volume brings together leading researchers and commentators working in law, history and policy to analyse the past, present and future of Scottish land reform. It covers how Scotland’s land is regulated, used and managed; why and how this has come to pass; and makes some suggestions as to the future of land reform.

Queering the Map of Glasgow was inspired by the community-generated mapping project Queering the Map. Knight Errant Press took this idea home through stories that chart the fictional, real and liminal spaces and moments lost in the folds of the map. This is a map unlike any other: adding detail and fable it is neither complete nor fixed, it is a fold in the world. And a queer one at that.

Contributors: By Gray Crosbie, Sarah Rogers, Eleanor Capaldi, Mel Reeve, et al.

Gender – it affects us all, but what exactly is it? There isn’t a single, straightforward answer to put your mind at ease.

In the form of compelling poetry, prose, essays and graphic storytelling, this anthology will address the issue head on. From fierce feminism to modern masculinity, perspectives on passing to nuanced experiences of identities beyond the binary, the authors will dispel the idea of a single narrative and invite the reader to take in the multitude of lived and imagined experiences.

Prepare to have your feathers ruffled and your preconceptions stripped away – F, M or Other? Does it matter? Let’s find out…

Contributors: Gray Crosbie, Laura Nicholson, Robert Stirrups, Harry Mason, Fee Johnstone, Nic Lachance, Jonathan Bay, Freddie Alexander, George McDermid, Max Scratchmann, Sarah Spence, Iliria Osum, et al.