THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

‘[an] exploration of Scotland’s past through the eyes of a scholarly hiker … Magnificent’ – New Statesman, Books of the YearFourteen centuries ago, Irish saints journeyed to the Hebrides and Scotland’s Atlantic shore. They sought spiritual solitude in remote places, but their mission was also to spread the word of God to the peoples of Scotland. Columba was the most famous of these pioneers who rowed their curraghs towards danger and uncertainty in a pagan land, but the many others are now largely forgotten.Alistair Moffat sets off in search of these elusive figures. As he follows in their footsteps, he finds their traces not so much in tangible remains as in the spirit and memory of the places that lay at the very edge of their world.

Following on from the Scottish Mountaineering Club’s best-sellers, The Munros and The Corbetts, this definitive guidebook recommends the best journeys on the next principal listings of Scottish hills.Ranging between 2000ft (610m) and 2500ft (672m), there are 219 Grahams, while the Donalds comprise the 141 summits and Tops above 2000ft (610m) in the Scottish Lowlands. At such an accessible height range, these hills are increasingly popular and offer challenges across the country for both the occasional and dedicated walker.Written and compiled by some of the foremost authorities on the Scottish mountains and brought to life with maps and vivid colour photographs, this richly illustrated guide details more than 250 routes, including, where appropriate, logical combinations with neighbouring hills.Whether you’re looking to climb all the summits on Scotland’s principal lists or just want some great days off the beaten tracks, The Grahams & The Donalds is a book no hillwalker should be without.

Can the Highland girls prove everyone wrong? Don’t miss this poignant and heartwarming WW2 novel for fans of Rosie Clarke, Dilly Court and Rosie Archer, from the author of A Wartime Secret.Scotland, 1942.The Lumberjills, the newest recruits in the Women’s Timber Corps, arrive in the Scottish Highlands to a hostile reception from doubtful locals. The young women are determined to prove them wrong and serve their country – but they’re also all looking for something more…Lady Persephone signed up to show everyone she’s more than just a pretty face – but it’ll take more than some charm and her noble credentials to win handsome Sergeant Fraser over.Tall, strong Grace has led a lonely life working on a croft, with just her mother for company. All she wants is to find her place in the world – even if that’s a thousand miles from home.And Irene misses her husband terribly, so until he returns home from the frontline, she’s distracting herself with war work. But one distraction too far leads to devastating consequences…Can the Lumberjills get through their struggles together – even when tragedy strikes?Readers LOVE The Highland Girls at War!’I adored it!!… From start to finish, I loved it and couldn’t wait to get back to it whenever I had to rip myself away… It certainly left me wanting more! It was brilliant.’ NetGalley reviewer,’Love this book… The characters came to life as the story unrolled and I was sad the book ended as I felt I knew them and they were my friends too. Recommended to read ASAP.’ NetGalley reviewer,’Absolutely loved [it], great book from start to finish.’ NetGalley reviewer,’You feel like you’re part of a real war family. The characters feel real and the relationships and the storyline is excellent. I highly recommend this book for anyone that likes historical fiction.’ NetGalley reviewer,

Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, both suffering from shell shock, were sent to convalesce at Craiglockhart hospital in Edinburgh in 1917. Owen, who referred to himself as the ‘poet’s poet’ was unpublished at the time. It was the influence and encouragement of Sassoon during this period that shaped Owen’s work. Sassoon was also instrumental in publishing Owen’s work posthumously after the war.Here for the first time, collected in a single volume are the poems, written in Edinburgh, of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. These Edinburgh poems highlight the significance of the time these poets spent together in and around the city.

In 1725 an extensive military road and bridge-building programme was implemented by the British crown that would transform 18th-century Scotland. Aimed at pacifying some of her more inaccessible regions and containing the Jacobite threat, General Wade’s new roads were designed to replace ‘the old ways’ and ‘tedious passages’ through the mountains. Over the next few decades, the laying out of these routes opened up the country to visitors from all backgrounds. After the 1760s, soldiers, surveyors and commercial travellers were joined by leisure tourists and artists, eager to explore Scotland’s antiquities, natural history and scenic landscapes, and to describe their findings in words and images.In this book a number of acclaimed experts explore how the Scottish landscape was variously documented, evaluated, planned and imagined in words and images. As well as a fascinating insight into the experience of travellers and tourists, it also considers how they impacted on the experience of the Scottish people themselves.

What have you heard about Scottish history? Don’t believe a word! In Scotland we do not ponder ‘Why?’; We demand ‘How?’ How do the characters and events of Scottish History make the Scotland of today? These stories researched by the authors of ‘Scottish History: Strange but True’ tell the ‘Hows’ and the ‘Whys’ of everything you need to know.

A ruthless Viking warrior who named his most prized battle weapon after the Norse goddess of death, Olav Haraldsson and his mercenaries wrought terror and destruction from the Baltic to Galicia in the early eleventh century. Thousands were put to the sword, enslaved or ransomed. In England, Canterbury was sacked, its archbishop murdered and London Bridge pulled down. The loot amassed from years of plunder helped Olav win the throne of Norway, and a century after his death he was proclaimed ‘Eternal King’ and has been a national hero there ever since.Despite his bloodthirsty beginnings, Olav converted to Christianity and, in a personal vendetta against the old Norse gods, made Norway Christian too, thereby changing irrevocably the Viking world he was born into. Told with reference to Norse sagas, early chronicles and the work of modern scholars, Desmond Seward paints an intensely vivid and colourful portrait of the life and times of arguably the greatest Viking of them all.

Should she wait for him?Jinny Hendrie is content working in the accounts office of a large bakery in Edinburgh, but when she meets handsome Viennese cake expert Viktor Linden, she realises she could be happier. The promise of an exciting future with Viktor beckons, but her father and her kind-hearted boss, Ross MacBain, warn against it.But then war is declared between Great Britain and Germany and Jinny has little choice but to break things off with Viktor, who must return home to fight. Austria has joined forces with Germany and he is now the enemy. Her dreams in tatters, she must do her best to carry on without Viktor.Troubled years lie ahead without news of him, and while Jinny finds new love, there is huge uncertainty over whether Viktor will return when the war is over – and whether his homecoming will lead to happiness or heartbreak…An enthralling Scottish Second World War saga perfect for fans of Elaine Everest and Fenella J. Miller.

A comprehensive and up to date guide to mental health law in Scotland, including developments since the implementation of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.Mental health and incapacity law affect not just those subject to compulsory orders, but everyone with a mental health problem, dementia or a learning disability.This highly practical guide covers every aspect of mental health law, including tribunal procedure, procedures for adults with incapacity, community care, patients’ rights and legal remedies for when things go wrong.The third edition includes:- Changes recommended by the Independent Review on Learning Disability and Autism to mental health legislation (plus any legislative, policy or guidance reflecting this) in its December 2019 final report.- Changes recommended by the Independent Review of Scottish Mental Health Law covering mental health, adults with incapacity and adult support and protection law. This is an ongoing review expected to be completed by summer 2022 with interim reports and recommendations on the lead up to publication.- Developments and increased influence of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on mental health and incapacity law, practice and policy and the need to give greater effect to economic, social and cultural rights in relation to mental health.

AW ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MAIR EQUAL THAN ITHERSIt didnae seem unco when Napoleon wis seen daunderin aboot the fairmhoose gairden wi a pipe in his mooth…Frae the instant o its first publication ower seeventy year syne, Animal Fairm, in mony weys, has come tae be oor socio-political urtext – oor wan-singer-wan-sang, oor collective pairty piece, the script we’re doomed tae keep repeatin…George Orwell’s faur-kent novel Animal Fairm, yin o Time magazine’s 100 brawest English-leid novels o aw time, has been translatit intae Scots for the verra first time by Thomas Clark.When the animals o Manor Fairm cast aff thirldom an tak control frae Mr Jones, they hae howps for a life o freedom an equality. But when the pigs Napoleon and Snawbaw rise tae pouer, the ither animals find oot that they’re mebbe no aw as equal as they’d aince thocht. A tragic political allegory described by Orwell as bein ‘the history o a revolution that went wrang’, this buik is as relevant noo – if no mair sae – as when it wis first set oot.

Adapted as a graphic novel by tenor, director, and writer Alek Shrader, with layout and page design by legendary artist P. Craig Russell (Neil Gaiman’s American Gods), illustrations by the acclaimed artist Aneke Murillenem (Bylines in Blood), and lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. This epic hardcover graphic novel features a stunning cover illustrated by Aneke.Perhaps the most famous opera in history, Georges Bizet’s CARMEN premiered in 1875 at the Opera-Comique in Paris. The four-act opera, featuring a libretto written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy and adapted from the novella by Prosper Merimee, remains one of the most exciting and popular works in the repertoire. Now, nearly 150 years after its premiere, Arizona Opera is presenting the story of Carmen, adapted as a graphic novel.

Jamie has been watching the wee white seal that lives on the beach. At night the wee seal cuddles up to its mother. In the morning she goes out to sea and leaves it alone like a strange white stone on the sand.One day tourists come and crowd the wee seal but Jamie knows just what to do to protect it until its mother comes back…Janis Mackay’s lyrical prose tells the story of the tender relationship between a wild baby seal and the young boy who watches over it, while Gabby Grant’s soft illustrations brilliantly evoke the landscape of the Orkney Islands.

Can they put the past behind them?Lorne Malcolm’s wedding to her handsome suitor Daniel MacNeil is a joyful day much looked forward to by both families. But by the time Lorne’s older sister, Rosa, returns from a trip to the flower shop on the morning of the wedding, Lorne has disappeared.When news arrives that Lorne has run off to Ireland with a wealthy landowner’s son, Rory Thain, their families are shocked. None more so than Daniel. Jilted on his own wedding day, a devastated Daniel turns to Rosa for comfort. Despite her initial misgivings, Rosa’s feelings for Daniel grow, and the pair’s friendship blossoms into something more. The two are soon married, but is Rosa truly the sister Daniel loves?A tender family saga set in Scotland, perfect for fans of Rosie Goodwin and Annie Murray.

YOU CAN GO PROUDLY.YOU ARE HISTORY.YOU ARE LEGEND.1936. In villages, towns and cities across Scotland, 549 lives are gradually intertwining.People of contrasting backgrounds, ideologies and religions. Spurred on by their burning passion for equality and freedom, they will form the Scottish ranks of the Spanish Civil War’s legendary International Brigade.2022. The country is in crisis.In a small pub in Prestonpans, East Lothian, four millennials are told a story.The true story of four local miners who, over 80 years ago, travelled from the streets of Prestonpans to the valleys of Spain. They gave up everything that was familiar: for a land that was not; for a people they had never met; and for a cause they believed was right.549, a play with songs and storytelling, is a timely insight into one of Scotland’s almost forgotten conflicts.549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War was first performed 7 February 2018 at Prestonpans Town Hall.

This is the story of lightkeepers’ contributions to the natural history of lighthouses in conjunction with the history and maintenance of the manned navigation beacons – their primary function of course – ‘for the safety of all’. Since keepers were first engaged to maintain lighthouses around our coast they have encountered wildlife, and in some cases developed a keen interest and expertise on the subject. Towards the end of the nineteenth century keepers were encouraged to submit annual returns of bird movements enabling reports on bird migration and several authoritative books to be compiled. As a result, ornithologists began to recognise how many lighthouses were well-placed to establish bird observatories – a few were in redundant lighthouses, often on offshore islands.However, lightkeepers also recognised that in certain weather conditions and during migration times, flocks of birds were attracted to the beam, resulting in many fatalities. While the problem is now better understood and considerably reduced, the automation of all British lighthouses has resulted in there no longer being lighthouse keepers to monitor the situation and report bird, sea mammal, insect and bat movements.The Natural History of Lighthouses highlights the contribution made by lighthouse keepers over the last century or two to the study of natural history, and ornithology in particular. Much of this is discussed in the words of the keepers themselves, set in the context of lighthouse history. Scotland has an especially rich lighthouse tradition, mainly due to a dynasty of Stevenson engineers covering over a century, all of whom also had a profound understanding of weather and geology – and indeed natural history – so important in the placing of their lighthouses.Several redundant lighthouse buildings still function as bird observatories as well as wildlife viewpoints and study centres, museums, hotels, restaurants and private homes. The lanterns themselves are still maintained in this digital and satellite age, monitored remotely from a strategic control centre.

The Scot who won England the World Cup. Macaroon bars and Bovril. When Dixie Deans met Bob Marley. When Davie Robb met Olivia Newton-John. When George McCluskey met the Stones. When Rick Wakeman filed match reports for Meadowbank Thistle. Triumphs and disasters, submarines and rowing boats, War and Peace (who’s read it). The Cowdenbeath kettle. The Brechin hedge. Morton’s great Danes. Icarus at East Fife. The dead pigeon sketch and the amazing technicolor booze-coat. The can girls. Those who flogged ice cream and licked Hitler. The world’s oldest conjoined twins. Inside the half-time scoreboards. Our greatest goal, our greatest assist, our keepers. Scarlett Johansson! And of course Arthur Montford – commentator, curator, favourite uncle to the nation.In Bring Me the Sports Jacket of Arthur Montford, Aidan Smith mines Scottish football history for quirk, strangeness and charm. On a journey that takes him to Albania and also Albion Rovers, great players are celebrated and so are great characters. Rediscover old legends (not told this way before) and maybe learn about new ones. If there’s a running theme it’s that our game, its participants and those who watch in the rain are one and the same thing – indomitable.

In the years between about 1810 and 1840, Edinburgh-long and affectionately known as ‘Auld Reekie’-came to think of itself and be widely regarded as something else: the city became ‘Modern Athens’, an epithet later turned to ‘the Athens of the North’. The phrase is very well-known. It is also much used by those who have little understanding of the often confused and contradictory messages hidden within the apparent convenience of a trite or hackneyed term that conceals a myriad of nuanced meanings. This book examines the circumstances underlying a remarkable change in perception of a place and an age. It looks in detail at the ‘when’, the ‘by whom’, the ‘why’, the ‘how’, and the ‘with what consequences’ of this most interesting, if extremely complex, transformation of one city into an image-physical or spiritual, or both-of another. A very broad range of evidence is drawn upon, the story having not only topographical, artistic, and architectural dimensions but also social, cerebral, and philosophical ones. Edinburgh may well have been considered ‘Athenian’. But, in essence, it remained what it had always been. Maybe, however, for a brief period it was really a sort of hybrid: ‘Auld Greekie’.

Get ready for the final chapter…

With the discovery of the Spear of Truth, the Four Treasures are finally reunited, but who will win the war as the worlds of good and evil collide in this earth-shattering showdown? And will Ailsa and Maalik’s new-found relationship survive Ailsa’s transformation as she finally discovers her true identity?

War has arrived in Ossiana; Four Treasures and four fae are all that stand between Eilanmor and destruction. But with Ailsa and her friends scattered to the winds, will they find each other before their enemies tighten their chokehold on the continent?

Still reeling from her revelation in the mountains, Ailsa must prove she is worthy of the Spear of Truth to win it from the witches. Surrounded by strangers and abandoned by both her demon and her spirit guide, things have never looked bleaker.

But the gods have their own plans and soon Ailsa and her companions find that what was once dead and buried will rise again.

IT’S THE 4TH OF DECEMBER 1591.

On this, the last night of her life, in a prison cell several floors below Edinburgh’s High Street, convicted witch Geillis Duncan receives a mysterious visitor – Iris, who says she comes from a future where women are still persecuted for who they are and what they believe.

As the hours pass and dawn approaches, Geillis recounts the circumstances of her arrest, brutal torture, confession and trial, while Iris offers support, solace – and the tantalising prospect of escape.

Hex is a visceral depiction of what happens when a society is consumed by fear and superstition, exploring how the terrible force of a king’s violent crusade against ordinary women can still be felt, right up to the present day.

Edinburgh is basking in an unnaturally warm winter until the snow starts falling. When a student disappears, along with his climate research, and the national government close down all communications, Professor Finlay Hamilton realises there is a link between his own research into dark matter and the freak weather. Suddenly he is in a desperate race to save his wife, Jess, and their young family from a catastrophic event. His only help is a man from Jess’s past, a past he never knew existed.