THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

On December 28th 1879, the night of the Great Storm, the Tay Bridge collapsed, along with the train that was crossing, and everyone on board…This is the true story of that disastrous night, told from multiple viewpoints:The station master waiting for the train to arrive – who sees the approaching lights simply vanish.The bored young boys watching from their bedroom window who witness the disaster.The dreamer who designed the bridge which eventually destroyed him.The old highlanders who professed the bridge doomed from the outset.The young woman on the ill-fated train, carrying a love letter from the man she hoped to marry…THE HIGH GIRDERS is a vivid, dramatic reconstruction of the ill-omened man-made catastrophe of the Tay Bridge disaster – and its grim aftermath.

Invaluable wisdom on living a good life from one of the Enlightenment’s greatest philosophersDavid Hume (1711-1776) is perhaps best known for his ideas about cause and effect and his criticisms of religion, but he is rarely thought of as a philosopher with practical wisdom to offer. Yet Hume’s philosophy is grounded in an honest assessment of nature-human nature in particular. The Great Guide is an engaging and eye-opening account of how Hume’s thought should serve as the basis for a complete approach to life.In this enthralling book, Julian Baggini masterfully interweaves biography with intellectual history and philosophy to give us a complete vision of Hume’s guide to life. He follows Hume on his life’s journey, literally walking in the great philosopher’s footsteps as Baggini takes readers to the places that inspired Hume the most, from his family estate near the Scottish border to Paris, where, as an older man, he was warmly embraced by French society. Baggini shows how Hume put his philosophy into practice in a life that blended reason and passion, study and leisure, and relaxation and enjoyment.The Great Guide includes 145 Humean maxims for living well, on topics ranging from the meaning of success and the value of travel to friendship, facing death, identity, and the importance of leisure. This book shows how life is far richer with Hume as your guide.

This guidebook describes two contrasting routes in north-east Scotland: the Moray Coast Trail from Forres to Cullen, and the Dava Way, an inland route from Grantown to Forres. The Moray Coast Trail consists of 44 miles of beach walking, coastal paths, quiet roads and old railway. The Dava Way extends for 23 miles inland with vistas of mountain, moorland and farmland. We also introduce the Moray Way, a concept combining most of the above two routes with part of the Speyside Way to form a 95-mile circuit of considerable beauty and historical interest.Here is all you need to plan and enjoy your holiday on and around the Moray Firth:detailed description of the Moray Coast Trail from west to east, and Dava Way from south to northsummaries of distance, terrain and refreshments for each sectiondetails of visitor attractions and side-tripsrichly illustrated habitats and wildlifeplanning information for travel by car, bus and planecontacts for accommodationmaps showing both routes at 1:40,000in full colour, with 75 photographsrucksack-friendly and on rainproof paper.

Lexie Byrne is perfectly content approaching forty, as a singleton. After all, she can watch Dirty Dancing on repeat while eating cheese and onion crisp sandwiches in bed. She’s had a ring on it, then a ring off it, and unless it’s Johnny Castle who merengues into her life, she is never settling again. Her ex-fiance Dan, cheated yes, she was flattened yes, but she picked herself up and in hindsight, had a lucky escape.Lexie’s best friend is Annemarie, who, at forty-two, has settled for Tom, desperate for a baby. But when Lexie meets Adam and she feels a chemistry that almost makes her head explode, Annemarie strongly disapproves. Annemarie says everything is moving way too fast and insists on flying with Lexie when she goes to visit Adam, despite the fact that she thinks she might finally be pregnant.When they arrive at Adam’s, Lexie soon discovers that he has a very complicated past, and an even more complicated present. But through all the drama, Lexie realises that with him, she is having the time of her life. Until the tension that’s been brewing between Lexie and Annemarie finally erupts and, as her unexpected love story unfolds, it is only trumped by a very unexpected arrival.

Written by the brilliant Julia Donaldson and stunningly illustrated by the award-winning Sara Ogilvie, The Hospital Dog is a big-hearted tale about a very special, very brave dog.Here is a dog, a Dalmatian called Dot,Is she quite ordinary? NO, SHE’S NOT!After their breakfast and a swim in the sea, Dot and her owner Rose jump on the bus to the hospital. Dot loves visiting the children of Wallaby Ward and they’re always pleased to see her too; from a crying baby to a bored teenager – a pat, a stroke and a cuddle with Dot cheers everyone up. But the work of the hospital dog doesn’t stop there and when one of her patients is in trouble, it’s up to Dot to save the day!A fantastic rhyming story from the creators of the bestselling picture book, The Detective Dog – winner of the Books Are My Bag Readers’ Award.

Among the most popular and endearing of Britain’s wild creatures, otters inhabit not only the full length of the British and Irish coasts but also many river systems and lochs. Formerly hunted almost to extinction, they are one of conservation’s great success stories.In this essential book, Andy Howard opens their lives to us with a perfect combination of words and images: how they hunt, the beauty of their movement, fierce battles over territory, and how they raise their young. From the Scottish Highlands to Vancouver Island, Andy’s stunning photography will amaze and enlighten.

The latest work by Saltire-shortlisted author Linda Cracknell, The Other Side of Stone spans three centuries in an intimate study of those connected to a Perthshire woollen mill.

Following characters as diverse as a 19th century stone mason and rural suffragette, each story is interwoven to create a haunting tale of Perthshire’s wool industry that explores the struggle for women’s rights, and the long-term impact of industrialisation upon rural Scotland.

The number one bestseller! The touching, funny and heartwarming new novel from the author of How to Stop Time and Reasons to Stay Alive

Nora’s life has been going from bad to worse. Then at the stroke of midnight on her last day on earth she finds herself transported to a library. There she is given the chance to undo her regrets and try out each of the other lives she might have lived. Which raises the ultimate question: with infinite choices, what is the best way to live?

Ted wants to be a proper journalist rather than a film critic, but at least the travel is good. He arrives in Bucharest to interview a renowned film director, but suspects the man he sees is an imposter. His guide, Vasile, has involved him in a more interesting story about a missing girl, a puzzle Ted aims to solve while he’s in Moscow at the 1975 International Film Festival. In Moscow, though, the mystery deepens, and Ted finds himself asked to do more than a few dubious favours.

Ted wants to be a proper journalist rather than a film critic, but at least the travel is good. He arrives in Bucharest to interview a renowned film director, but suspects the man he sees is an imposter. His guide, Vasile, has involved him in a more interesting story about a missing girl, a puzzle Ted aims to solve while he’s in Moscow at the 1975 International Film Festival. In Moscow, though, the mystery deepens, and Ted finds himself asked to do more than a few dubious favours.

Brunch should evoke a sense of pleasure and relaxation – and perhaps also the temptation to try something new.Food writer and broadcaster Ghillie Basan offers 50 recipes in seven themed sections: brunch in a bowl, brunch with eggs, brunch on bread, baked potato brunch, sweet-tooth brunch and boozy brunch. Featuring Scottish ingredients in traditional recipes as well as imaginative combinations – from herring in oatmeal with creamy scrambled eggs and cranachan smoothie to pancetta scallops with Caesar salad bruschetta and bacon butties with honey gooseberries – this little book is the perfect inspiration for those days when time is more generous and food less rushed.

The eleventh book in the Sunday Times-bestselling Inspector McLean series, from one of Scotland’s most celebrated crime writers.The charred remains of an elderly woman are discovered in a burned-out game-keepers cottage, hidden away in woodland to the west of Edinburgh. Clearly no accidental fire, Detective Inspector Tony McLean suspects that neither is this simply a grim arson attack. There is far more to the victim than her humble surroundings might suggest, and something ritualistic to her horrific murder.Nor will it be the only case of death by fire that Tony and his team will be faced with. This is only the beginning, and with such evil clouding the air, Tony begins to wonder what else will burn . . .Praise for James Oswald:’The new Ian Rankin’ Daily Record’Creepy, gritty and gruesome’ Sunday Mirror’Crime fiction’s next big thing’ Sunday Telegraph(P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Ltd

Beautiful, enchanting and wild – windswept moors, shimmering lochs and breathtakingly beautiful glens have imbued Scotland with a rugged and untamed romanticism, while its cosmopolitan cities and rich literary heritage give the country a captivating cultural legacy. Your DK Eyewitness Top 10 travel guide ensures you’ll find your way around Scotland with absolute ease.Our newly updated Top 10 travel guide breaks down the best of Scotland into helpful lists of ten – from our own selected highlights to the best castles, lochs, epic journeys, places to shop, eat, and, of course, sample a “wee dram” of Whisky.You’ll discover:- Eleven easy-to-follow itineraries, perfect for a day trip, a weekend, or a week- Detailed Top 10 lists of Scotland’s must-sees, including comprehensive descriptions of the Edinburgh Castle, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, the Isle of Skye, Glen Coe, and Loch Ness and the Great Glen.- Scotland’s most interesting areas, with the best places for shopping, going out and sightseeing- Inspiration for different things to enjoy during your trip – including family activities and things to do for free- A laminated pull-out map of Scotland, plus nine full-colour area maps- Practical advice: get ready, get around, and stay safe- A lightweight format perfect for your pocket or bag when you’re on the moveDK Eyewitness Top 10s are the UK’s favourite pocket guides and have been helping travellers to make the most of their breaks since 2002.Looking for more on Scotland’s culture, history and attractions? Try our DK Eyewitness Scotland.

In 1995 the National Trust for Scotland acquired Mar Lodge Estate in the heart of the Cairngorms. Home to over 5,000 species, this vast expanse of Caledonian woodlands, subarctic mountains, bogs, moors, roaring burns and frozen lochs could be a place where environmental conservation and Highland field sports would exist in harmony. The only problem was that due to centuries of abuse by human hands, the ancient Caledonian pinewoods were dying, and it would take radical measures to save them.After 25 years of extremely hard work, the pinewoods, bogs, moors and mountains are returning to their former glory. Regeneration is the story of this success, featuring not only the people who are protecting the land and quietly working to undo the wrongs of the past, but also the myriad creatures which inspire them to do so.In addition, it also tackles current controversies such as raptor persecution, deer management and rewilding and asks bigger questions about the nature of conservation itself: what do we see when we look at our wild places? What should we see?

My name is Haley Cooper Crowe and I am in lockdown in a remote location I can’t tell you about. Haley and Ben live with their mother. But with inside knowledge of a new, deadlier-than-ever pandemic that’s about to overwhelm them, their father is determined to get them to the safety of his secret hideaway … Problem is, there is no way their mother will go along with this plan. When their father kidnaps them and takes them to his prepper compound, they have no contact with the outside world. They’re fully equipped with rations and emergency kit, but they face deeply conflicting views of reality with no reliable source of news. Will they survive, save their mother, deter intruders and keep everyone safe? This is Haley’s account of how to navigate the collapse of society, family and everything she knows.

London, 1851. Restless and bored after a long hot summer, apothecary and poison expert Jem Flockhart decides to redesign her physic garden. But plans are thrown into confusion when a man’s skeleton is unearthed from beneath the deadly nightshade, a smaller, child-like skeleton curled at its feet. The body bears evidence of knife wounds to its ribs and arms, and is accompanied by a collection of macabre objects: a brass bowl, a curious coin-like token, a set of tiny ivory sculls.The police claim the victim is too long-buried for answers to be found, but for Jem, a corpse in her own garden is something that cannot be ignored. The plans to the garden, laid out some forty years earlier, reveal a list of five names.When Jem and Will start asking questions, the murders begin. Each victim has a past connection with the physic garden; each corpse is found with its jaw broken wide and its mouth stuffed with deadly nightshade. As they move closer to uncovering the truth Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain encounter a dark world of addiction, madness, power and death that strikes at the very heart of Jem’s own history. This time, the poison is personal.

Pet portraitist Susie Mahl has to use all her artistic know-how to get to the bottom of a fiendish Scottish mysteryStruggling with long-buried family secrets and her own recent heartbreak, artist and pet portraitist Susie Mahl hopes her brief sojourn as an art tutor at a Scottish country house will prove a distraction.But Susie soon realises she has bigger problems than teaching her eclectic mix of students to draw a Highland cow. Beneath the beautiful landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and the grandeur of the Auchen Laggan Tosh estate lie hidden secrets. Can Susie work out what exactly is going on before it’s too late? And can anyone be trusted?

“Exceptional . The plot twists frequently, building up to a jaw-dropping climax. Series followers and newbies alike will be hooked” – Publishers Weekly Starred ReviewQuint Dalrymple investigates the strange disappearance of the Lord of the Isles in this gripping dystopian thriller.November, 2038. Scotland has been reunified and Edinburgh’s thirty-year experiment with supposedly benevolent totalitarianism is over. But there’s still plenty of work for ex-investigator Quint Dalrymple, who’s looking into an attempted strangling in Leith. A young man has been attacked by an assailant wearing a bizarre tree-fish costume.Before Quint can make headway, he is asked by the head of government to look into the strange disappearance of the Lord of the Isles. How could Angus Macdonald, leader of the opposition, have vanished from inside his locked bedroom while his valet was sitting outside? And why has a severed finger been hidden in the room?When a body is discovered, arranged in a disturbingly macabre pose, it becomes clear the two cases are linked. As Quint delves further, he is drawn into a complex web of deception whose threads lead far back into his past …

Bramble the cow lives on an old farm where she has lots of friends. But she has a problem – she hates loud noises! She doesn’t like the buzzing of bees, or the sound of the wind during a storm, or the farmer’s combine harvester. And she doesn’t like the rain.One night, after a heavy storm, the river floods. The other animals are frightened, but Bramble knows what to do and sets off to rescue them.