THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

A hardcover, deluxe collection of Santa’s secret origins – brought together for the first time!

Before he became a myth… Before he became a legend… The complete, deluxe hardcover collection of the man who would be Santa Claus, and who dared to challenge the dark forces of magic and malevolence! From the genre-colliding mind of comics icon Grant Morrison (All-Star Superman, Luda) and the dazzling artistic talents of superstar Dan Mora (World’s Finest, Once & Future) comes a bold adventure into the lands of endless winter, where the sword-swinging adventurer known as Klaus and his wolven companion, Lilli, would begin a centuries-long journey to uphold his immortal mission – and make the world safe for everyone who holds the spirit of Christmas in their heart. Deftly threading traditional tales of Santa’s roots in Viking folklore and Siberian shamanism together with the pulp-inspired prototype of the superhero and barbarian swashbuckler, witness the true secret origin of Santa Claus, long thought lost to history…and the rise of the malignant foes that have stood to oppose his sacred duty across the generations: Krampus, the Witch of Winter, the Pola Cola corporation, and more. Collects Klaus #1-7, Klaus & the Witch of Winter, Klaus & the Crisis in Xmasville, Klaus & the Crying Snowman, Klaus & the Life and Times of Joe Christmas, and Klaus: Pen & Ink Edition.

The novel tells the story of two friends, Enero and El Negro, who take Tilo, the teenage son of Eusebio – their recently deceased friend – fishing to the Paraná River. While they drink and cook and talk and dance, they try to overcome the ghosts of their past and those of the present: their mood altered by wine and torpor. This intimate, peculiar moment connecting the lives of these three men also links them to the lives of the local inhabitants of this watery universe that runs by its own laws.

There are losses, premature deaths – but there is also the stubborn vitality of nature: a bush covered with ancient trees, animals, birds; the river bearing life in its entrails, the people born and raised in this landscape which they protect tooth and nail against intruders.

This story, which flows like water, talks about the love between friends, the love of a mother for her daughters, and the love of the islanders for their river and everything that lives in it.

This masterful novel reveals once again Selva Almada’s unique voice and extraordinary sensitivity, allowing its characters to shine and express in action what the depths of their souls harbour.

One of the Best Books of 2020 in Clarín and La Nación

Shortlisted for the Mario Vargas Llosa Novel Prize

The novel tells the story of two friends, Enero and El Negro, who take Tilo, the teenage son of Eusebio – their recently deceased friend – fishing to the Paraná River. While they drink and cook and talk and dance, they try to overcome the ghosts of their past and those of the present: their mood altered by wine and torpor. This intimate, peculiar moment connecting the lives of these three men also links them to the lives of the local inhabitants of this watery universe that runs by its own laws.

There are losses, premature deaths. But there is also the stubborn vitality of nature: a bush covered with ancient trees, animals, birds; the river bearing life in its entrails, the people born and raised in this landscape which they protect tooth and nail against intruders.

This story, which flows like water, talks about the love between friends, the love of a mother for her daughters, and the love of the islanders for their river and everything that lives in it.

This masterful novel reveals once again Selva Almada’s unique voice and extraordinary sensitivity, allowing its characters to shine and express in action what the depths of their souls harbour.

One of the Best Books of 2020 in Clarín and La Nación

Shortlisted for the Mario Vargas Llosa Novel Prize

They’re the housemates from Hell.

When her disastrous Australian love affair ends, Lou O’Dowd heads to Edinburgh for a fresh start, moving in with her cousin, and preparing for the only job she can find – working at a halfway house for very high-risk offenders.

Two killers, a celebrity paedophile and a paranoid coke dealer – all out on parole and all sharing their outwardly elegant Edinburgh townhouse with rookie night-worker Lou. And instead of finding some meaning and purpose to her life, she finds herself trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse where she stands to lose everything – including her life.Slick, darkly funny and nerve-janglingly tense, Halfway House is both a breathtaking thriller and an unapologetic reminder never to corner a desperate woman.

‘A classic of its kind.’ William Boyd

‘Thought-provoking, hilarious, sardonic and scarily brilliant.’ Scotsman

‘A work of dazzling craft.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘A memoir in a million.’ Sunday Times

Don Paterson was born in Dundee, Scotland, in 1963. He spent his boyhood on a council housing estate.

When he wasn’t busy dreading his birthdays, dodging kids who wanted to kill him in a game of Toy Fights, working with his country-and-western singer dad, obsessing over God, origami, sex or Scottish football cards, he was developing a sugar addiction, playing guitar and descending into madness. While he didn’t manage to figure out who he was meant to be, the first twenty years of his life – before he took a chance, packed his guitar and boarded a train to London – did, for better or worse, shape who he would become.

‘A book that swan-dives into the filthy waters of growing up and resurfaces clear-eyed, bearing pearls.’ Financial Times

‘Paterson is arguably Scotland’s finest writer at work today, his sense of the absurd is acutely honed, his wisdom hard-won.’ The National

‘Wonderful, aggressively wise and always – especially at its most serious – devastatingly funny.’ Geoff Dyer

Strolling and striding through Britain’s history

Walking is a simple and popular recreation, but one that comes freighted with meaning, social attitudes and value judgements. We are not simply left to walk if we feel like it – we are urged by various levels of government and opinion formers to walk more, in order to help the environment or improve our mental and physical health. What is recreational walking anyway? A walk can be a stroll round a small open space in a city or a long hike over demanding terrain in weather that blurs the boundary between exercise and endurance. The stroller and the strider can be the same person at different times, though most walkers have a preference for one end of the spectrum. Walking has appealed to all sorts of people throughout its long recorded history, and this volume delves into a rich variety of sources about walking from the 12th to the 20th century, including diaries, letters, memoirs, poems, fiction, government reports and newspapers.

The more committed have not only enjoyed walking but have thought of themselves and been recognised by others as “walkers”, even though all manner of people have walked for recreation. Walking in a socially approved place, in the right sort of clothing, observing the decorum of the time, was a mark of respectability until quite recently. When large numbers of young people were able to take new opportunities to get to the countryside in the 1920s and 1930s, dressing and behaving in ways that expressed their own needs and desires, they were often seen as comic, deplorably urban, socially inferior and in the wrong place. Walkers of all kinds have frequently been regarded as “in the wrong place”. In the countryside the walker is potentially in disputed territory, questioning one of the sacred tenets of post-enclosure Britain – the association of landownership with power, prestige and the foundations of the social order. This has led to the pattern of exclusion which marks our present relationship with the countryside. In response, an organised social movement to represent the interests and advance the causes of recreational walking claimed a place in the politics of landownership, which is once again in the public eye.

A spectacular, voice-driven mystery from a highly acclaimed crime writer.

How do you solve a murder when everyone thinks you’re guilty?

Marjorie Crowe lives in Kilgoyne, Scotland. The locals put her age at somewhere between 55 and 70. They think she’s divorced or a lifelong spinster; that she used to be a librarian, a pharmacist, or a witch. They think she’s lonely, or ill, or maybe just plain rude. For the most part, they leave her be.But one day, everything changes.

Local teenager Charlie McKee is found hanging in the woods, and Marjorie is the first one to see his body. When what she saw turns out to be impossible, the police have their doubts. And when another young person goes missing, the tide of suspicion turns on her.

Is Marjorie the monster, or the victim? And how far will she go to fight for her name?

PRAISE FOR C.S. ROBERTSON:

‘A truly startling novel’ Sunday Times

‘A remarkable thriller’ Sunday Express

‘Ingenious’ Daily Mail

‘Enthralling’ Liz Nugent

‘Gut-wrenching’ The Times

(P) 2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

There’s something very special about Wee Granny’s tartan bag. Each time she reaches inside, she pulls out a big surprise!

Emily and Harry love spending time with Wee Granny. Extraordinary things always happen when she brings her tartan bag.

Wee Granny and the children are having fun in the park when Mum calls to ask if they’ll bake some cakes for the school fair. Wee Granny couldn’t possibly have anything in her bag to help with that – or could she?!

This new edition of the hugely popular picture book starring a tartan Mary Poppins offers a wonderful mix of colourful illustrations and an engaging story, with surprises on every page!

How do you solve a murder when everyone thinks you’re guilty?Marjorie Crowe lives in Kilgoyne, Scotland. The locals put her age at somewhere between 55 and 70. They think she’s divorced or a lifelong spinster; that she used to be a librarian, a pharmacist, or a witch. They think she’s lonely, or ill, or maybe just plain rude. For the most part, they leave her be.But one day, everything changes.Local teenager Charlie McKee is found hanging in the woods, and Marjorie is the first one to see his body. When what she saw turns out to be impossible, the police have their doubts. And when another young person goes missing, the tide of suspicion turns on her.Is Marjorie the monster, or the victim? And how far will she go to fight for her name?PRAISE FOR C.S. ROBERTSON:’A truly startling novel’ Sunday Times’A remarkable thriller’ Sunday Express’Ingenious’ Daily Mail’Enthralling’ Liz Nugent’Gut-wrenching’ The Times

The incredible story of the first Labour administration and the ‘wild men’ who shook up the British establishment.

In 1923, four short years since the end of the First World War, and after the passing of the Act which gave all men the vote, an inconclusive election result and the prospect of a constitutional crisis opened the door for a radically different sort of government: men from working-class backgrounds who had never before occupied the corridors of power at Westminster.

The Wild Men tells the story of that first Labour administration – its unexpected birth, fraught existence, and controversial downfall – through the eyes of those who found themselves in the House of Commons, running the country for the people. Blending biography and history into a compelling narrative, David Torrance reassesses the UK’s first Labour government a century after it shook up a British establishment still reeling from the War – and how the establishment eventually fought back.

This is an extraordinary period in British political history which echoes down the years to our current politics and laid the foundations for the Britain of today.

‘The police. They’re digging in the scrapyard.’

Cal Lovett has spent half his life telling other people’s stories on his true crime podcast. But the police are close to solving the mystery of his sister’s disappearance – now he might finally get to tell Margot’s story.

A desperate relative begs for his help.

Cal seeks respite on a holiday in the Scottish Highlands, but is dragged into a new cold case: an unsolved murder that shattered a family fourteen years ago.

An isolated community wary of outsiders.

Eyes follow Cal everywhere. And someone makes it very clear that they don’t want him snooping around.

How far will he go to find justice? And how far is far enough?

The second thrilling instalment in the Cal Lovett Files, perfect for fans of Helen Fields, Jane Casey and Claire Douglas.

Praise for Unburied

‘A tense and gripping tale that explores the complexities of motherhood’ Heather Darwent, author of The Things We Do For Our Friends

‘Exquisite prose, an exhilarating case and expertly crafted. A perfect follow up to a brilliant debut’ Sam Holland, author of The Twenty

Dumped by Instagram post. Not a whiff of a social life. Can it get any worse?

After a string of failed relationships – romantic and platonic – Lea’s had enough of watching life happen without her. When she bumps into Shep, a comedian at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in need of accommodation, it feels like destiny. And voilá – Lea now has a lodger and some company.

The two get on like a flat on fire, and Lea can’t resist falling for outgoing Shep. But she knows it’s a mistake that will cost her heart – he’s just another guy passing through, after all. And with Shep’s stand up routine edging him closer to his big break, there’s no way he’ll stick around.

Love is no laughing matter as the Fringe draws to a close. Can Lea find the confidence to step up and confess her feelings to Shep? Will he want to stay?

A feel-good, heartwarming romance for anyone desperate to break out of their shell and find their true self. Perfect for fans of Beth O’Leary, Laura Jane Williams and Miranda Dickinson.

This book brings together the major writings of David Sellar (1941-2019) on the genealogies (pedigrees) claimed by some of the major clans of medieval Highland and Island Scotland, especially the descendants of their twelfth-century king Somerled. The claimed pedigrees in the medieval Gaelic 1467 manuscript and the Irish genealogies are critically analysed in relation to each other, and their historical authenticity tested against other evidence, including the Gaelic or Norse quality of their recorded names. Contemporary literary material is considered alongside later recorded traditions descending from the seanchaidh, whose work was to hand down to posterity the valorous actions, conquests, battles, skirmishes, marriages and relations of the chiefly ancestors by relating and singing them at births, baptisms, marriages, inaugurations, feasts and funerals. The family pedigrees offer crucial insights into the nature of medieval society, supporting and sometimes explaining a family’s socio-political position. As an exercise in propaganda, a pedigree was susceptible to fabrication and not to be trusted uncritically.

David Sellar’s meticulous analysis reveals the social and political realities of medieval Celtic Scotland, making use of heraldic evidence as well as his legal expertise, in a fluent and reader-friendly style.

A Companion to Scottish Literature offers fresh readings of major authors and periods of Scottish literary production from the first millennium to the present. Bringing together contributions by many of the world’s leading experts in the field, this comprehensive resource provides the historical background of Scottish literature, highlights new critical approaches, and explores wider cultural and institutional contexts.

Dealing with texts in the languages of Scots, English, and Gaelic, the Companion offers modern perspectives on the historical milieux, thematic contexts and canonical writers of Scottish literature. Original essays apply the most up-to-date critical and scholarly analyses to a uniquely wide range of topics, such as Gaelic literature, national and diasporic writing, children’s literature, Scottish drama and theatre, gender and sexuality, and women’s writing. Critical readings examine William Dunbar, Robert Burns, Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Muriel Spark and Carol Ann Duffy, amongst others.

With full references and guidance for further reading, as well as numerous links to online resources, A Companion to Scottish Literature is essential reading for advanced students and scholars of Scottish literature, as well as academic and non-academic readers with an interest in the subject.

Who? Him. The Husband. Hero. Hunk.

The Boy Next Door. The Paramour. The Je t’adore.

Behind every famous man is a great woman – and from the quick-tongued Mrs Darwin to the lascivious Frau Freud, from the adoring Queen Kong to the long-suffering wife of the Devil himself, each one steps from her counterpart’s shadow to tell her side of the story in this irresistible collection.

Original, subversive, full of imagination and quicksilver wit, The World’s Wife is Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy at her beguiling best.

The book explores the rich material contained within a collection of oral history recordings with Peeblesshire textile mill workers, made by Ian MacDougall between 1996 and 2004.

Their testimonies chart a period of immense change across all aspects of textile manufacturing, an industry which was always in a state of flux with innovations in processes and fibres.

The recordings encompass the experience of a generation of workers affected by two World Wars – their fathers having been in the First and themselves in the Second.

They also reflects on the role of women in the workplace, and community life and how this has changed in correlation to the rise and decline of the textile industry.

Published by NMS Enterprises Limited – Publishing in association with The Scottish Working People’s History Trust and the European Ethnological Research Centre.

This guidebook describes a 528-mile cycling route in northern Scotland. Starting and finishing in the highland capital Inverness, the circular route passes through the ancient counties and districts of Wester Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, Easter Ross and the Black Isle and is suitable for mountain, touring and road bikes: the going is entirely on asphalt-surfaced roads, though many are quiet with little traffic. The circuit can be comfortably completed in a fortnight.

Featuring clear and concise route description, together with 1:150,000 mapping, gradient profiles, suggested schedules and invaluable practical information – including complete lists of all hostel/bunkhouse accommodation, official campsites and services for cyclists and advice on other accommodation and refreshment opportunities, this guidebook provides all the information needed to plan and execute a terrific cycle tour. Alternative routes are provided in case you should wish to avoid the steep ascent of Bealach na Bà or the undulating Assynt peninsula, or to include the busier A9 east coast road.

The route boasts stunning scenery and rich historical interest and cyclists will be treated to mile upon mile of unspoilt wilderness. The journey takes in varied landscapes of craggy mountains, verdant glens, rolling peat moorland dotted with lochs and wild rugged coastlines – and if the scenery isn’t enough, there are many distilleries and micro-breweries on or near the route guaranteed to entice. With notes on history, geology, wildlife and local points of interest, the guide offers a perfect way to get to know Scotland’s captivating far north.

The pre-Grouping companies were fiercely competitive and would defend any incursion by another company penetrating what they considered to be their “territories”. Nevertheless, at times they would co-operate. This co-operation resulted in a large number of joint lines. These joint lines ranged from fully independent operations, complete with their own staffs, locomotives and rolling stock, to short lengths of railway used by the joint companies, with the cost of maintenance shared.

There were more than seventy of these joint lines and all feature in this series by popular railway author Patrick Bennett. This volume focuses on those found in Scotland and the north of England.

This guidebook describes a 528-mile cycling route in northern Scotland. Starting and finishing in the highland capital Inverness, the circular route passes through the ancient counties and districts of Wester Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, Easter Ross and the Black Isle and is suitable for mountain, touring and road bikes: the going is entirely on asphalt-surfaced roads, though many are quiet with little traffic. The circuit can be comfortably completed in a fortnight.

Featuring clear and concise route description, together with 1:150,000 mapping, gradient profiles, suggested schedules and invaluable practical information – including complete lists of all hostel/bunkhouse accommodation, official campsites and services for cyclists and advice on other accommodation and refreshment opportunities, this guidebook provides all the information needed to plan and execute a terrific cycle tour. Alternative routes are provided in case you should wish to avoid the steep ascent of Bealach na Bà or the undulating Assynt peninsula, or to include the busier A9 east coast road.

The route boasts stunning scenery and rich historical interest and cyclists will be treated to mile upon mile of unspoilt wilderness. The journey takes in varied landscapes of craggy mountains, verdant glens, rolling peat moorland dotted with lochs and wild rugged coastlines – and if the scenery isn’t enough, there are many distilleries and micro-breweries on or near the route guaranteed to entice. With notes on history, geology, wildlife and local points of interest, the guide offers a perfect way to get to know Scotland’s captivating far north.

This guidebook describes a 528-mile cycling route in northern Scotland. Starting and finishing in the highland capital Inverness, the circular route passes through the ancient counties and districts of Wester Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, Easter Ross and the Black Isle and is suitable for mountain, touring and road bikes: the going is entirely on asphalt-surfaced roads, though many are quiet with little traffic. The circuit can be comfortably completed in a fortnight.

Featuring clear and concise route description, together with 1:150,000 mapping, gradient profiles, suggested schedules and invaluable practical information – including complete lists of all hostel/bunkhouse accommodation, official campsites and services for cyclists and advice on other accommodation and refreshment opportunities, this guidebook provides all the information needed to plan and execute a terrific cycle tour. Alternative routes are provided in case you should wish to avoid the steep ascent of Bealach na Bà or the undulating Assynt peninsula, or to include the busier A9 east coast road.

The route boasts stunning scenery and rich historical interest and cyclists will be treated to mile upon mile of unspoilt wilderness. The journey takes in varied landscapes of craggy mountains, verdant glens, rolling peat moorland dotted with lochs and wild rugged coastlines – and if the scenery isn’t enough, there are many distilleries and micro-breweries on or near the route guaranteed to entice. With notes on history, geology, wildlife and local points of interest, the guide offers a perfect way to get to know Scotland’s captivating far north.