THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

Making big science topics just the right size for little readers as we explore the human body.Did you know that your lungs are the size of a tennis court? Or that your bones are stronger than cement? But your mum and dad have fewer bones than you do? The human body is pretty amazing, and we’d like to tell you why…So sit back, and let expert scientist and CBeebies writer Emily Dodd tell you all about the human body. With bite-sized text, facts to make you say ‘WOW’, and easy-to-understand explanations, big science topics are now just the right size for readers 4 years plus.Brilliantly illustrated by Chorkung, this is the perfect little book for readers who are just discovering all the AMAZING STUFF in the world around them.

Making big science topics just the right size for little readers as we explore plants.Did you know that plants make their food from sunshine? But that some plants eat bugs? And some plants have been around since before the time of the dinosaurs? Plants are pretty amazing, and we’d like to tell you why…So sit back, and let expert scientist and CBeebies writer Emily Dodd tell you all about plants. With bite-sized text, facts to make you say ‘WOW’, and easy-to-understand explanations, big science topics are now just the right size for readers 4 years plus.Brilliantly illustrated by Chorkung, this is the perfect little book for readers who are just discovering all the AMAZING STUFF in the world around them.

The burial grounds, graveyards and cemeteries of Fife contain many fascinating historical tales, often with interesting superstitions attached. All walks of life are represented – from the burial place of ancient kings, queens and saints in Scotland’s ancient capital, Dunfermline, to the only known grave of a witch in Scotland, on the foreshore of the Firth of Forth.In this book local historian Charlotte Golledge takes readers on a tour through the history of Fife’s burial grounds, graveyards and cemeteries. She explores the history of the royal burials at Dunfermline Abbey and the resting place of the bishops at St Andrews Cathedral, with the graves of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris nearby who designed many of Scotland’s iconic golf courses. Lesser-known locations include the secluded St Bridget’s kirkyard in Dalgety Bay where bodysnatchers would row across the River Forth to claim freshly buried bodies for the anatomist’s table, and the lovingly restored kirkyard at Tulliallan Old Kirk with its gravestones going back to the seventeenth century, many of which have been brought to the surface recently, showing the everyday trades of those interred, including nautical connections. Together, these are the tales of real people of Scotland told through their deaths and burials. This fascinating portrait of life and death in Fife over the centuries will appeal to both residents and visitors to this region of Scotland.

One of the English language’s best-loved living poets arrays before us here, in chronological order, her favourites among her poems on death, drawing on work written over four decades, and adds to her selection one wholly new poem. It makes for a sequence that is warm, vibrant, alive.

One of the English language’s best-loved living poets arrays before us here, in chronological order, her favourites among her poems on death, drawing on work written over four decades, and adds to her selection one wholly new poem. It makes for a sequence that is warm, vibrant, alive.

One of the English language’s best-loved living poets arrays before us here, in chronological order, her favourites among her poems on the theme of love, drawing on work written over four decades, and she adds to her selection one new poem. It makes for a sequence that is sensual, stimulating, irresistible.

Animals have shaped the cultural and economic life of Glasgow through the ages, and many statues and other memorials around the city honour the role played by animals in the city’s history. Horses were central to Glasgow’s massive expansion in the nineteenth century, moving goods in and out of the city, and their sight, sound and smell were an integral part of the life of the city well into the 1950s. For centuries they were the main means of transport, whether as saddle horses or pulling vehicles, or for the military at the cavalry barracks in the Gorbals, and myriad trades depended on the horses, including saddlers, harness makers, grooms, fodder suppliers, horse trainers, riding schools, horse dealers and farriers.Equestrian events were a regular feature at theatres and fairs and gradually developed into circuses and such events as Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Shows. Performing animals were seen in the city for centuries and menageries of exotic animals toured Glasgow from the late eighteenth century onwards, followed by circuses, bringing the largest elephants to the smallest flea circus. After several attempts, a permanent zoo finally opened in Glasgow in 1947 but closed 2003.As the population grew, domestic pet ownership grew too, including racing pigeons, and numerous dog and cat shows became established. Whippet racing was a popular pastime a century ago, with illegal betting, but was gradually replaced by greyhound racing where betting on-track was legal.In Beastly Glasgow, author Barclay Price takes the reader on a fascinating exploration of the city’s animal associations through the ages. Full of unusual tales and fascinating facts, this well-researched history will introduce readers to the beguiling history of Glasgow’s animals.

The historic county of Fife is a natural peninsula on the east coast of Scotland, bordered by the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay. Alongside its three largest settlements of Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes it is also home to the ancient city of St Andrews, with its world-famous golf course and university. The often turbulent history of Fife is reflected in its royal palaces, castles and other ruins, such as Ravenscraig Castle and Dunfermline Abbey.Fife’s picturesque coast draws visitors to places like Crail Harbour and Pittenweem. Fife’s cultural and industrial heritage are also celebrated, including the Fife Folk Museum, the Anstruther Fisheries Museum and the Fife Heritage Railway.50 Gems of Fife explores the many places and their history that make this part of Scotland so special, including natural features, towns and villages, buildings and places of historical interest. Alongside justly famous attractions, others will be relatively unknown, but all have an interesting story to tell.

While few of us can aspire to climb the hardest routes, we all may open the SMC Journal and experience the excitement of exploratory climbing or the tense uncertainty of a first ascent. In this issue Helen Rennard recounts her ground-breaking winter climbs with Dave McLeod, Iain Small and Dave Almond, while Almond himself leads us up the fearsome Mistral route on Beinn Eighe.No point of the compass is neglected. In ‘Winter Out West’ Neil Adams describes pioneering routes in Ardgour. Iain Young goes ‘Mountaineering in Hyperborea’ on winter visits to the far north, while Bob Duncan soloes the Old Man of Hoy. Finlay Wild finds ‘Eastern Promise’ in his gruelling Cairngorm ski-tours. And further south, Mike Jacob recalls the rock-climbing exploits of ‘Harold Raeburn in Lakeland’.We can recover our breath with some gentler pieces. In ‘Night’ Ian Crofton reflects on nocturnal phenomena in the mountains, while Donald Orr appraises D.Y.Cameron’s mountain drawings. Gavin Anderson asks which heroes deserve ‘A Stance on Parnassus’, Dave Broadhead gets on his bike, Iain Cameron visits long-lying snowfields, and Robin Campbell guides us round the Scottish mountaineering archives.Humour can be found in the writings of Tim Pettifer and Phil Gribbon, dark fiction in a short story by Mike Dixon, and bone-shattering reality in Brian Shackleton’s account of his serious accident. Ever-popular features include New Routes (some 660 of them), Munro Matters, and 21 expert reviews of recent books.

Donna Ashworth is the wordsmith behind the social media phenomenon LADIES PASS IT ON, and her community of more than 680,000 followers across two platforms is growing by 10,000 every month. LOVE is a collection of poems which show us that love is always present in our lives, even in the most unexpected places.A guidebook for navigating the many complicated connections we humans have, these poems give wisdom and advice to maintain and grow the love we hold for friends, partners, family and ourselves, inspiring us to cherish the joy it brings.Donna’s poems have gone viral, travelled round the world and been viewed millions of times. Using her own experiences to nurture others, her work is celebrated by a huge online following and is the inspiration for both video content and many songs. Her poems are frequently read by celebrities and she has been featured in both Grazia and Glamour magazine as one of the most celebrated female poets. In this new collection, you will encounter all types of love: familiar, blossoming, passionate and patient. Yet above all else, these poems remind us that love is abundant.

James Maley, George Watters, and Archibald Williams were members of Machine Gun Company No. 2 of the XV International Brigade. This is the first book to focus on a small group of men from different starting-points, ended up in the same battleground at Jarama, and then in the same prisons after capture by Franco’s forces.Their remarkable story is told both in their own words and in the recollections of their sons and daughters, through a prison notebook, newspaper reports, stills cut from newsreels, interviews, anecdotes, and memories with a foreword by Daniel Gray.Drawing on interviews, letters, diaries, newspaper reports and historical accounts, and illustrated with original images and documents, Our Fathers Fought Franco is a collective biography that promises to add significantly to the understanding of the motives of those who ‘went because their open eyes could see no other way’.This book will be of interest to those who enjoy political, military, Scottish and Spanish history.

Economic warfare is not a new phenomenon. In the protectionist climate of the seventeenth century, trade embargoes, exclusions and boycotts were common. England was among the most active nations when it came to using economic clout to get its own way. It did so to force Scotland to accept an Act of Union: to submerge its independence within a United Kingdom governed from London. Instrumental in this attack upon the Scots was William Dampier, the principal subject of this book. He was an extraordinary man. A farmer’s son, he became the most travelled man of his generation. He was a pirate, a brute and a devious sociopath. But he was also a scientist and a talented writer who gave his readers accurate descriptions of previously unknown places, peoples, plants and animals. He was a daring explorer and an expert navigator who mapped coastlines and logged wind patterns and ocean currents. He led the first Royal Navy expedition to Australia, over 70 years before Captain Cook’s arrival. Dampier’s writing made him famous, but not rich. It allowed him to rub shoulders with the leading men of his day; scientists such as Robert Hooke, Edmund Halley and Hans Sloane, businessmen such as Sir John Houblon (first governor of the Bank of England) and William Paterson, politicians such as James Vernon and Charles Montagu (first Earl of Halifax), and Admiralty men such as Admiral Sir George Rooke and Samuel Pepys. And Dampier was in the pay of the English Government; an agent known to Queen Anne, in which capacity he engineered a financial disaster and political drubbing for Scotland.

One Man’s Legacy chronicles the brief but brilliant life of Dr Tom Patey: bard, musician, and one of Scotland’s foremost climbers and mountaineers. His story is one of pioneering ascents and boundless enthusiasm, and his spontaneity, carefree approach and ability to burn the candle at both ends remain legendary, several decades after his untimely death.Meticulously researched over several years, this definitive biography covers every aspect of Patey’s life in rich detail. Youthful endeavours with the Scouts and early forays on the Aberdeen sea cliffs were the foundation for Patey’s university years, where he established – often solo – many classic summer and winter lines in the Cairngorms, cementing his reputation as a tough, fearless mountaineer with exceptional endurance. A stalwart of 1950s bothy culture, his natural gifts as a musician and raconteur garnered him friends far and wide, and enabled him to transcend social and cultural boundaries with ease. Later, as a Royal Marine and then a highly respected GP, he maintained an insatiable appetite for exploring new terrain both in his native Scotland and further afield, in the Alps, Norway and the Karakoram.By drawing on Patey’s essays and verses, published collectively in the celebrated One Man’s Mountains, the narrative is imbued with dry wit and gentle satire, and brought to life by unseen images from renowned photographer John Cleare and the Patey family archive. Supported by a foreword from Mick Fowler and first-hand insights from some of the leading climbers of the last century, including Sir Chris Bonington, Joe Brown and Paul Nunn, One Man’s Legacy celebrates a complex, larger-than-life character who rightly deserves his place in mountaineering history.

LIFE IN THE ANTARCTIC Photographs by the Scottish Antarctic Expedition,. William Bruce’s Voyage of the ‘Scotia’ 1902 – 1904 Antarctic ExpeditionThe publishers beg to draw particular note to the fact that the illustrations in this little book are all reproductions of genuine photographs from life, taken by the Leader and Staff of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, during the voyage of the ‘Scotia’ 1902 – 1904.Practically all of them are unique, many of the mammals and birds never having been previously photographed.They were taken under conditions of climate which made photography extremely difficult and often impossible.They are not touched up in anyway by the engravers, and may be implicitly relied upon as correct representations of the actual environments of Antarctic mammals and birds.This Facsimile has been created from the original 1907 first edition, each photo professionally scanned.

Hair is potent. It can be an emotional and intense matter across gender – it will grow in places you don’t like, it may desert you – suddenly, or gradually. It is a symbol of gender, sexuality, status, and more. Part memoir, part investigation across history, politics, religion, and culture, Hair/Power explores the power, control and ultimate liberation that hair can provide.

When Captain Beardy-Beard rescues Nellie from the North Pole she’s ready to be safe and sound back at home. But mistakes and trouble are never far from Nellie, and when their submarine runs out of fuel in the docks of New York, Captain Beardy-Beard and his crew are a prime target for a hijacking! Looks like Nellie Choc-Ice is in trouble again and this time it’s BIG trouble! Hilarious penguin adventure full of laughs and facts.

This book provides a much overdue reading of Scotland’s largest city as it was during the long 18th century. These formative years of Enlightenment, caught between the tumultuous ages of the Reformation and the Industrial Revolution, cast Glasgow in a new and vibrant light. Far from being a dusty metropolis lying in wait for the famous age of shipbuilding, Glasgow was already an imperial hub as implicated in mass migration and slavery as it was in civic growth and social progression. Craig Lamont incorporates case studies such as the Scottish Enlightenment, the transatlantic slave trade and 18th-century print culture to investigate how the city was shaped by the emergence of new trades and new ventures in philosophy, fine art, science and religion. The book merges historical, literary and memory studies to provide an original blueprint for new research into other cities or civic spaces.

Nellie Choc-Ice is on her way home to the North Pole at last! But things don’t go so smoothly when Captain Beardy-Beard’s trusty submarine grinds to a halt in an island of plastic – and they aren’t the only ones who are trapped. It’s up to Nellie to untangle everyone from the mess … But what are they going to do about all this plastic in the ocean?A touching and funny Little Gem from an author-illustrator dream team!

Hair is potent. It can be an emotional and intense matter across gender – it will grow in places you don’t like, it may desert you – suddenly, or gradually. It is a symbol of gender, sexuality, status, and more. Part memoir, part investigation across history, politics, religion, and culture, Hair/Power explores the power, control and ultimate liberation that hair can provide.

Never Did the Fire unfolds in the humdrum of everyday working class existence, making the afterlife of an agitator that of anyone living next door. For one old couple, brought together years ago in an underground cell, the revolution has ended in a small apartment, a grinding job caring for the bodies of the unwell well-to-do, and all the aches and pains that go with a long life and a long marriage. Untethered from the political action that defined them, and mourning the loss of their child, their bonds dissolve, but the consequences of their former life, and their dependence on each other, won’t let them go.A literary icon in Chile and a major figure in the anti-Pinochet resistance, Diamela Eltit is at the height of her powers in this novel of breakdowns. Never Did the Fire evokes the charged air of Chile’s violent past, and the burdens it carries into the present-day, when the structures we built, and the ones we succumbed to, no longer offer us any comfort or prospect of salvation.