Undiscovered Scotland

Under the Radiant Hill: Life and the Land in the Remotest Highlands by Robin Noble (7 September 2023). (Amazon paid link.) The northern parish of Assynt boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in Britain. The mountains of Quinag and Suilven dominate a very varied landscape with wild, white hills inland and a complex, intricate moorland to the west. In this book, Robin Noble, who has been intimately involved with this corner of the north-west Highlands of Scotland his whole life, celebrates its rugged beauty and shares many intimate encounters with the resident wildlife.
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The Wisest Fool: The Lavish Life of James VI and I by Steven Veerapen (7 September 2023). (Amazon paid link.) James VI and I has long endured a mixed reputation. Here James’s story is laid bare, and a welter of scurrilous, outrageous assumptions penned by his political opponents put to rest. What emerges is a portrait of James VI and I as his contemporaries knew him: a gregarious, idealistic man whose personal and political goals could never match up to reality. It casts fresh light on the his personal, domestic, international, and sexual politics.
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The Two Headed Whale: Life and Loss in the Deepest Oceans by Sandy Winterbottom (6 October 2022). (Amazon paid link.) In 2016, Sandy Winterbottom embarked on an epic six-week tall-ship voyage from Uruguay to Antarctica. At a stop in South Georgia, her pristine image of the Antarctic was shattered when she discovered the dark legacy of industrial-scale whaling. She was enraged by what she found, but then she stumbled upon the grave of an eighteen-year-old whaler from Edinburgh who she could not allow to bear the brunt of blame. There are two sides to every story.
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Kayaking the Sea Roads: Exploring the Scottish Highlands by Ed Ley-Wilson (29 September 2023). (Amazon paid link.) Kayaking the Sea Roads is a personal journey by sea kayak into the heart of the sea roads that make up our Scottish Highlands and islands. Blending the intensity of the journey with a careful observation of the natural world and first-hand knowledge of the challenges of living and working in this place, the author reminds us that mother nature, vast and resilient, is still out there beyond our mobile phones and urban lives.
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Agricola: Architect of Roman Britain by Simon Turney (15 February 2022). (Amazon paid link.) Gnaeus Julius Agricola was a man fated for conquest and tied to the island of Britanni he incorporated into the empire the wild northern lands that had remained unclaimed for three decades. Agricola’s biography was written by his son-in-law Tacitus, and his life has otherwise never been examined in detail. Here, using the archaeological record and contemporary accounts to compare with Tacitus, we work to uncover the truth about the man who made Roman Britain. Was Tacitus an unreliable narrator?
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Northern Lights: The Arctic Scots by Edward J. Cowan (7 September 2023). (Amazon paid link.) Surprisingly, the remarkable story of the Scottish role in the discovery of the Northwest Passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific has not received a great deal of attention. This book charts the extensive contribution to Arctic exploration made by the Scots, including names such as John Ross from Stranraer; his nephew, James Clark Ross; John Richardson of Dumfries; and Orcadian John Rae. The book also pays tribute to many others too: the Scotch Irish, the whalers and not least the Inuit.
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James Hutton: The Genius of Time by Ray Perman (1 September 2022). (Amazon paid link.) Among the giants of the Scottish Enlightenment, the name of James Hutton is overlooked. Yet his Theory of the Earth revolutionised the way we think about how our planet was formed and laid the foundation for the science of geology. He was in his time a doctor, a farmer, a businessman, a chemist yet he described himself as a philosopher – a seeker after truth. This book uses new sources and original documents to bring Hutton the man to life and places him firmly among the geniuses of his time.
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A Scotsman Returns: Travels with Thomas Telford in the Highlands and Islands by Paul A Lynn (29 October 2021). (Amazon paid link.) This is a book about the great Scottish engineer Thomas Telford (1757-1834) which revisits the places in the Highlands and Islands where he achieved so much. We retrace a Highland Tour made by Telford and the Poet Laureate, Robert Southey, in 1819. The two men were drawn together by Telford's love of poetry and Southey's admiration of the engineer's remarkable work in the Highlands. Southey kept a journal of the tour, which remained unpublished for a century.
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The Restless Wave: My Two Lives with John Bellany by Helen Bellany (19 April 2018). (Amazon paid link.) John Bellany was one of the most innovative 20th century British artists, a man whose work was described by the "Guardian" as "at once realist, expressionist and surrealist". Helen Bellany married him twice. This beautifully-written book is the story of their turbulent lives together. At once biography and autobiography, this is a searingly, sometimes shockingly, honest account of a relationship that encompassed both the sublime joy of true love and the utter despair of failure, rejection and the fear of imminent death.
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Finding True North: The Healing Power of Place by Linda Gask (18 March 2021). (Amazon paid link.) Beneath the wide skies of Orkney Linda Gask recalls her career as a consultant psychiatrist and her lifelong struggle with her own mental health. After the favelas of Brazil, the glittering cities of the Middle East, and the forests of Haida Gwaii, will she find perspective, spiritual relief, and healing in her new home? Her troubled past is never far away. "An illuminating and enlightening book about the importance of place."
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Airman Abroad by Hamish Brown (31 March 2023). (Amazon paid link.) A revealing picture of a time when Britain was losing its empire. It draws on letters, vivid memories and experiences from the Canal Zone, Kenya during Mau Mau times, Cyprus and Jerusalem. The Canal Zone was no easy life and 50 years later a medal was awarded when the government was forced to confess its own political chicanery in the events. There is much to find in this story including background histories to events and the politics of the time.
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Lemonade Tonight: Notes from a POW and a Present-Day Journey of Discovery by Fiona Cameron & Carole Grant (26 June 2021). (Amazon paid link.) On 30 January 1940, aged just twenty-one, Private Allan Cameron of the 51st Highland Division set sail for Le Havre to help defend France against a German invasion. He was subsequently captured and held as a prisoner of war. Diary notes he made during this time lay hidden until long after his death. When they found his notebooks in 2011, his daughters embarked on a quest to find out more. Their book brings history vividly to life and draws together the past and the present.
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The Rise of the Elliots of Minto: A Scottish Family's Life in the Eighteenth Century by John Evans (15 March 2017). (Amazon paid link.) This chronological account of the happenings of six generations of Elliots in the eighteenth century, and a dramatis personae of well over 100, completes the author’s trilogy about the family. The Rise of the Elliots of Minto begins with battles between reivers across the English–Scottish border. Gilbert Elliot is helping the earl of Argyll escape the clutches of the law. Soon afterwards, as a member of the Scottish Parliament, he prospers both socially and financially.
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The Adventures of John Carson in Several Quarters of the World by Brian Doyle (13 April 2017). (Amazon paid link.) The young Robert Louis Stevenson, living in a boarding house in San Francisco while waiting for his beloved's divorce from her feckless husband, dreamed of writing a soaring novel about his landlady's globe-trotting husband. Brian Doyle brings Stevenson's untold tale to life, braiding the adventures of seaman John Carson with those of a young Stevenson, wandering the streets of San Francisco, gathering material for his fiction.
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East of West, West of East by Hamish Brown (19 July 2018). (Amazon paid link.) This extraordinary book tells the story of a remarkable family caught in Japan at the outbreak of the Second World War in the Pacific. With letters, journal extracts and notes from Hamish Brown's parents, as well as his own recollections, it brings the era to life: not only life in the dying days of the British Empire, but also the terrible reality of the invasion of Singapore into which they escaped. Hamish Brown is a legendary climber, walker, traveller and author with many books to his name.
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Stroke: A 5% chance of survival by Ricky Monahan Brown (22 January 2019). (Amazon paid link.) In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Ricky suffers a catastrophic haemorrhagic stroke. Fortunately, his girlfriend Beth is nearby. A few minutes later, the unconscious Ricky is wheeled into hospital with a 5% chance of survival. Beth begins an eight-week vigil. Then Hurricane Sandy does to New York what the haemorrhage did to Ricky's brain. Amid the rubble of a battered city, brain injury, and lost jobs, Beth and Ricky start planning for a future together. After all, this is a love story.
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Flight from the Croft by Bill Innes (10 January 2019). (Amazon paid link.) As a barefoot lad in the Outer Hebrides, Bill Innes dreamed the impossible dream of becoming a pilot and this book tells how that dream came to pass. The author's career of over forty years spanned a period of incredible advances in the air - now regarded as a golden era in aviation. After gaining his RAF wings in Canada he really started to learn his trade by flying Dakotas for British European Airways around the Highlands and Islands of Scotland before moving on to pilot a range of more modern airliners for a number of airlines.
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On the Trail of Mary, Queen of Scots: A visitor’s guide to the castles, palaces and houses associated with the life of Mary, Queen of Scots by Roy Calley (15 November 2017). (Amazon paid link.) On the Trail of Mary, Queen of Scots takes the reader on a journey through the landscape of Mary's time. In her footsteps we visit resplendent castles, towering cathedrals, manor homes, chapels and ruins associated with Mary. Each is brought to life through an engaing narrative and a collection of photographs and works of art. The book covers locations in Scotland, England and France.
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A Scottish Blockade Runner in the American Civil War - Joannes Wyllie of the steamer Ad-Vance by John F. Messner (19 July 2021). (Amazon paid link.) Born in 1828 near Kelso, Wyllie went to sea in 1852. In 1862 he took command of his first vessel, running contraband through the Union blockade of the Confederate States, in the American Civil War. Wyllie then took command of the Ad-Vance until her capture in September 1864. Two more commands of blockade runners followed; he was captured again and then evaded the American authorities through a remarkable escape to Scotland.
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For Jean: Poems & Songs by Robert Burns (19 January 2017). (Amazon paid link.) A new collection of Robert Burns' poems and songs written for his wife,Jean Armour. Jean was a pretty lass with the voice of a nightingale and who loved to dance all enticing qualities that caught the eye of her ardent young suitor, who rapidly fell in love with her. Their extraordinary marriage was passionate, tempestuous and enduring against all odds, and Burns wrote many lines of verse for her or with her in mind.
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The Burning Glass: The Life of Naomi Mitchison by Jenni Calder (13 June 2019). (Amazon paid link.) Naomi Mitchison was a novelist, socialist, feminist and tireless campaigner for sexual freedom. She lived through the entire twentieth century and wrote more than seventy books. Her political activism took her from the Soviet Union to her adopted Botswana as a champion of liberty and equality. The Burning Glass draws a fascinating portrait of a truly inspiring life. This is the first biography of Naomi Mitchison to cover the entirety of her life, a life that saw her challenge convention and use her social position to proomote her beliefs.
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A Scottish Journey: Personal Impressions of Modern Scotland by James McEnaney (15 August 2018). (Amazon paid link.) In 1934 Edwin Muir set off on his Scottish Journey, travelling from Edinburgh to his childhood home of Orkney. More than 80 years later, James McEnaney follows in Muir's tyre tracks. Travelling on an ailing 15 year old motorbike called Vicky, he stays with ordinary Scots who are kind enough to welcome him into their homes, tell him about their lives and share their hopes for the future. This project is a snapshot depiction of the Scotland experienced over ten days in the spring of 2018.
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Rosy Wemyss, Admiral of the Fleet: the Man who created Armistice Day by John Johnson-Allen (9 June 2021). (Amazon paid link.) Rosslyn Wemyss' life and career was both fascinating and brilliant - a most distinguished admiral who is very little known. As the Allied Naval Representative at the Armistice negotiations on 11th November, 1918, he was responsible, with Marshal Foch, for the creation of Armistice Day. One of the most illustrious of Scottish admirals, he was a member of the Clan Wemyss, whose ancestral seat is Wemyss Castle in Fife, overlooking the Firth of Forth.
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Peak Beyond Peak: The Unpublished Scottish Journeys of Isobel Wylie Hutchison compiled by Hazel Buchan Cameron (16 September 2022). (Amazon paid link.) Isobel Wylie Hutchison travelled solo throughout the arctic, wrote and published extensive volumes of essays and poetry, and was one of the most remarkable Scottish figures of her time. These essays detail Isobel's journeys across Scotland. Written with characteristic wit and a keen interest in science, myth and folklore, the essays show Scotland as it was and has developed, and give a woman's experience of travelling alone.
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Scotland's Merlin: A Medieval Legend and its Dark Age Origins by Tim Clarkson (3 May 2016). (Amazon paid link.) Who was Merlin? Is the famous wizard of Arthurian legend based on a real person? In this book, Merlin's origins are traced back to the story of Lailoken, a mysterious 'wild man' who is said to have lived in the Scottish Lowlands in the sixth century AD. The book considers the question of whether Lailoken belongs to myth or reality.
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Becoming Julie: My Incredible Journey by Julie Clarke (3 November 2014). (Amazon paid link.) Julie Clarke was born a boy in the 50s in central Scotland. From a very early age she knew she was different from other boys, but growing up in the 50s and 60s was not conducive to discussing feelings of gender difference and for many years Julie didn't even know there was a medical term for her dilemma: she was transsexual.
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More Sherlock Holmes Than James Herriot: The Veterinary Detectives by Roger S. Windsor (28 September 2016). (Amazon paid link.) Roger Windsor s stories of life as, first, a naive student at vet school, then as a junior vet in general practice, and finally as a senior member of the Veterinary Investigation Service running a laboratory in Africa, certainly give James Herriot a run for his money. His vignettes of helping to build that Botswana's agricultural and forensic veterinary resources are truly fascinating.
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Gears for Queers by Abigail Melton and Lilith Cooper (4 June 2020). (Amazon paid link.) A bold new memoir that champions the belief that cycling really can be for everyone. Keen to see some of Europe, queer couple Lilith and Abigail get on their old bikes and start pedalling. Along flat fens and up Swiss Alps, they meet new friends and exorcise old demons as they push their bodies - and their relationship - to the limit. This frank book looks at mental health and the challenges of staying true to yourself while travelling offers a fresh perspective on the familiar bicycle tour.
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Mary, Queen of Scots: 'In My End is My Beginning' by Rosalind K. Marshall (1 July 2013). (Amazon paid link.) Mary, Queen of Scots has been much written and speculated about. Was she betrayed, condemned by her cousin Elizabeth, or was she a murdering adulteress with her husband's blood on her hands? This book, specially written to accompany the exhibition of the same name at the National Museum of Scotland, takes a fresh look at Mary, using over 120 objects associated with her.
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West Over The Waves: The Final Flight of Elsie Mackay by Jayne Baldwin (13 February 2017). (Amazon paid link.) Glamorous heiress Elsie Mackay was determined to pursue her dreams: eloping with a dashing soldier, starring on the silver screen, and designing the luxurious interiors of ocean liners. But her greatest passion was for aviation, still in its infancy in the 1920s, and her burning ambition was to become the first woman to not only fly the Atlantic but to cross by the most challenging route, from east to west. Journalist Jayne Baldwin uncovers the forgotten story of this bold and beautiful woman.
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The Jewel by Catherine Czerkawska (5 May 2016). (Amazon paid link.) A historical novel about Robert Burns' wife, Jean Armour. The Jewel is set largely during the dramatic years of their courtship in Mauchline, their married life at Ellisland and in Dumfries, and Robert's early death, all against a background simmering with political intrigue and turmoil. How Jean lived with - and frequently without - her famous husband is surely Scotland's greatest love story.
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Henrietta Tayler: Scottish Jacobite Historian and First World War Nurse by Maggie Craig (26 May 2016). (Amazon paid link.) Henrietta Tayler, (1869-1951), was a remarkable woman. She was born into the Scottish gentry and might have lived a life of ease. Instead, she devoted herself to scholarship and helping others. She was a prolific author and served throughout the First World War as a nurse, helping wounded soldiers on both sides of the conflict and refugees.
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The Great Horizon: 50 Heroes of Geography by Jo Woolf (16 November 2017). (Amazon paid link.) Fifty stories of adventure and exploration over more than two centuries. The Great Horizon features those who set out to conquer new territories and claim world records alongside those who contributed to our understanding of the world all but accidentally. Published in association with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and with full access to their extensive records, the book includes unique images and insights from the RSGS archives, along with never-before seen material.
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The Sunlit Summit: The Life of W. H. Murray by Robin Lloyd-Jones (15 August 2013). (Amazon paid link.) William Hutchison Murray (1913 - 1996) was one of Scotland's most distinguished climbers in the years before and after the Second World War. As a prisoner of war in Italy he wrote his first classic book, Mountaineering in Scotland, which was destroyed by the Gestapo. The rewritten version was published in 1947 and followed by the, now equally iconic, Undiscovered Scotland.
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Between Daylight and Hell: Scots Who Left a Stain on American History by Iain Lundy (9 December 2016). (Amazon paid link.) This is the culmination of years of research into the lives of Scots who were guilty of dastardly deeds after leaving Scotland for America: some literally got away with murder. These emigrants were rogues, con artists, charlatans and reprobates of the worst order and their crimes are laid out in detail. For each the author relates their early lives in Scotland and why they left to make a fresh start in the New World.
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Walking the Song by Hamish Brown (16 March 2017). (Amazon paid link.) Hamish Brown has been an outdoorsman for more than sixty years. The first person to complete an uninterrupted round of Scotland's Munros, his account of the feat is a classic of Scottish mountain literature. Throughout those years he has contributed articles and essays to many journals and, in this selection, he presents not an autobiography, but a very personal record of his many journeys and interests from his 'dancing days of spring' to his present, very active, later life.
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Ghosthunter: Adventures in the Afterlife by Tom Robertson with Murray Scougall (30 September 2010). (Amazon paid link.) Tom Robertson has spent a lifetime hunting for ghosts. His quest to uncover the supernatural started at the tender age of seven with his first terrifying encounter with the Black Lady of Larkhall. Since then, Tom has embarked on countless investigations.
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Manuel: Portrait of a Serial Killer by A. M. Nicoll (29 September 2016). (Amazon paid link.) In a two-year killing spress, Peter Manuel terrorised a city. As the people of Glasgow held their breath and anxxiously awaited news of yet more murders, Peter Manuel killed Anne Kneilands, Marion Watt, her daughter Vivienne and her sister Margaret, Isabelle Cooke and the Smart family. But why did he do it? What drove him to commit such barbaric crimes? And could the police have caught him sooner?
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Scotland Is Not for the Squeamish by Bill Watkins (25 August 2011). (Amazon paid link.) Rich and colourful, Bill Watkins deftly mingles Celtic poetry, history, and song with tales of his high-seas adventures and explorations of the Scottish Highlands. After realising his childhood dream of becoming a wireless operator at seas, Watkins takes his readers to the places he visits, the people he meets, and the work and predicaments he gets into.
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See You on the Hill by Ralph Storer (7 December 2018). (Amazon paid link.) Following on from The Joy of Hillwalking and 50 Shades of Hillwalking, acclaimed outdoors writer Ralph Storer returns with another eclectic selection of tales culled from a not-yet-lifetime of adventure and misadventure on hills and mountains. Written with Ralph's trademark wit, his entertaining escapades will amuse, thrill, inspire and give pause for contemplation. Join Ralph as he gets snowbound in the Cairngorms; gets lost on Sardinia; falls off a mountain in the Sierra Nevada... and much more.
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A Friendship in Letters: Robert Louis Stevenson & J.M. Barrie by Michael Shaw (13 November 2020). (Amazon paid link.) Though they never met, Robert Louis Stevenson and J. M. Barrie developed a warm friendship, revealed in these amusing and gossipy letters, with vivid commentary on each other's literary work. Until recently, Barrie's side of the correspondence was presumed lost by his biographers. This epistolary volume reunites Barrie's letters with Stevenson's and contextualises them through an engaging introduction and a series of appendices, including a delightful short story by Barrie.
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A Wild Call: One Man's Voyage in Pursuit of Freedom by Martyn Murray (10 October 2017). (Amazon paid link.) Martyn Murray was finding modern life, with all its restrictions and controls, suffocating. His father's death triggered him into opening the old logbooks and charts to retrace the sailing trips they had once shared together. Falling in love with an old ketch in Ireland, he bought and restored her enough to sail back to Scotland. Over the next two summers he cruised Scotland's Western Isles, with one goal: to reach St Kilda: 40 miles from the Outer Hebrides.
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Carspotting: The Real Adventures of Irvine Welsh by Sandy Macnair (1 September 2011). (Amazon paid link.) Having Sandy Macnair and Irvine Welsh were friends long before fame and fortune arrived, and their adventures and Welsh's novels have obvious parallels. Irvine Welsh was always the free spirit who would act on a whim and deal with the consequences later. Carspotting is Sandy Macnair's affectionate portrayal of their adventures.
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There's Always the Hills by Cameron McNeish (15 February 2018). (Amazon paid link.) From his home in the Cairngorms, Cameron McNeish reflects on a life dedicated to the outdoors. He has for almost forty years written and talked about walking and climbing in Scotland. A prolific author, he has led treks in the Himalayas and Syria, edited The Great Outdoors Magazine, establishing it as Britain's premier walking publication, created new long-distance walks and made television series, campaigned for Scottish independence and raised a family with his wife, Gina.
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The Call of the Mountains: Inspirations from a Journey of a Thousand Miles Across Scotland's Peaks by Max Landsberg (10 December 2018). (Amazon paid link.) More than just a travel guide, this is a lyrical testament to the power of the Scottish mountains to offer either simple enjoyment or a deeper journey of transformation. This is a wonderful book that should be read by anyone with any interest in Scotland's mountains. At one level "The Call of the Mountains" by Max Landsberg is a "how I compleated my round of Munros" book. But there is so much more here too.
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Jim Clark: Tribute to a Champion by Eric Dymock (28 April 2017). (Amazon paid link.) This classic of motor racing celebrates the life and achievements of Jim Clark (1936-1968), World Champion 1963 and 1965. Patrons Sir Jackie Stewart, David Coulthard, Dario Franchitti and Allan McNish celebrate the new edition, Sir Jackie describing Clark as '...the best racing driver I ever raced with and against'. Seemingly equal to the odds of the most dangerous eight years at the top of motor racing, Clark died in an unlikely accident on April 7 1968.
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In the Blink of an Eye by Ali Bacon (11 April 2018). (Amazon paid link.) In 1843, Edinburgh artist, David Octavius Hill, is commissioned to paint the portraits of 400 ministers who have broken away from the Church of Scotland. Only when he meets Robert Adamson, an early master of the art of photography, does this daunting task begin to look feasible. Hill is soon bewitched by the art of light and shade. He and Adamson become the darlings of Edinburgh society, immortalising people and places with their subtle and artistic images. In the Blink of an Eye is a re-imagining of Hill’s life.
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Finding Arthur: The True Origins of the Once and Future King by Adam Ardrey (29 October 2014). (Amazon paid link.) The legend of King Arthur has been told and retold for centuries. As the kind who united a nation, his is the story of England itself. But what if Arthur wasn't English at all? Adam Ardrey sets out the argument for Arthur's Scottish origin, showing how all the elements of the Arthurian legends can be fitted neatly into the Scottish landscape.
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Jules Verne's Scotland: In Fact and Fiction by Ian Thompson (1 August 2011). (Amazon paid link.) Jules Verne only visited Scotland twice, 20 years apart, yet he fell in love with the country. This book takes the reader on a journey with Verne from the cities to the highlands and islands. It also explains how how Verne's love for Scotland and his memories of his visits led to the country featuring as the setting of novels such as The Underground City and The Green Ray.
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Gentle Johnny Ramensky: The Extraordinary True Story of the Safe Blower Who Became a War Hero by Robert Jeffrey (15 July 2011). (Amazon paid link.) Gentle Johnny Ramensky is the astonishing tale of a boy reared in the poverty of the Gorbals who became one of the world's most extraordinary safe blowers. In the Second World War he served as a Commando and parachuted behind enemy lines to break into the safes of the German High Command.
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From Land to Rail: Life and Times of Andrew Ramage 1854-1917 by Caroline Milligan and Mark A. Mulhern (4 December 2014). (Amazon paid link.) Andrew Ramage was the son of a farm servant and he himself worked on the land in the Lothians and Berwickshire, in Scotland. Subsequently he became a dock worker, lorry driver and railwayman. This book is based on his surviving diaries and reveals much about life at the time.
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The Caithness Influence: Diverse Lives of Distinction by Valerie Campbell (12 December 2011). (Amazon paid link.) It is remarkable that so many people from Caithness have had such a huge impact, not only in Scotland but worldwide. From scientists, explorers, ministers and politicians to engineers, artists and writers, this part of the far north of Scotland has roduced many people who have made a lasting mark on the world.
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The Blind Man of Hoy by Red Szell (16 April 2015). (Amazon paid link.) 'From the moment I watched a documentary of Chris Bonington and Tom Patey climb the perpendicular flanks of the Old Man of Hoy I knew that my life would not be complete until I had followed in their footholds. Those dreams went dark at nineteen when I learned I was going blind.' This is the story of Red Szell's attempt on the Old Man.
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Winchman by Chris Murray (31 May 2013). (Amazon paid link.) This is the thoroughly enjoyable life story of Chris Murray. As a winchman on Stornoway based search and rescue helicopters, for 22 years he was involved in the rescue of many people from the seas and mountains around the north of Scotland and further afield. He also details his exploits from his early days as a Royal Navy diver in the elite Faslane diving team and later as a civilian diver working offshore for various companies.
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Prelude to Everest by Ian R. Mitchell and George Rodway (1 August 2011). (Amazon paid link.) When Everest was finally climbed in 1953, few remembered Aberdeen-born Alexander Kellas, who achieved the first ascent of several Himalayan peaks over 20,000 feet, but became the first man to die on an expedition to Everest in 1921. His expeditions and work on high altitude physiology prepared the way for its eventual ascent.
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It Shouldn't Happen to a Midwife by Jane Yeadon (15 March 2012). (Amazon paid link.) Training to be a nurse in the Swinging Sixties was demanding but great fun. In this sequel to It Won't Hurt a Bit, Jane Yeadon moves on from her basic training to her exciting new life as a midwife. It's a whole new challenge with a new set of intriguing colleagues as she heads from Scotland to Belfast for a brand new adventure.
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The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women From The Earliest Times to 2004: by Elizabeth Ewan, Sue Innes, Sian Reynolds, Rose Pipes (1 July 2007). (Amazon paid link.) This excellent single-volume dictionary presents the lives of individual Scottish women from earliest times to the present and throws light on the experience of women from every class and category in Scotland and among the worldwide Scottish diaspora.
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That Guy Fae the Corries by Ronnie Browne (16 July 2015). (Amazon paid link.) With his musical partner, Roy Williamson, Ronnie Browne formed The Corries. His autobiography describes his childhood in war time and the 1950s and 60s, his musical career including Scotland's unofficial national anthem, Flower of Scotland, the death of Ronnie Williamson, and the following years as a solo artist.
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All Because of Henry by Nuala Gardner (26 September 2013). (Amazon paid link.) We pick up the story from the bestseller, A Friend Like Henry, which traced the childhood journey of Dale, the Gardner family and their amazing golden retriever Henry. Dale is no longer the victim of severe classical autism, but a young man facing a challenging and uncertain future. Dale is ready for the world, but is the world ready for him?
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Boswell's Bus Pass by Stuart Campbell (30 June 2011). (Amazon paid link.) Armed with a bus pass and supported by a relay team of equally eccentric companions Stuart Campbell follows the bus routes that Dr Johnson and Boswell would have used had they delayed their journey to the Western isles of Scotland by 238 years. Included are previously unpublished love letters from Boswell s servant, to his master's long suffering wife, Margaret.
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The Final Curtsey by Margaret Rhodes (31 May 2011). (Amazon paid link.) This is the intimate and revealing autobiography of Margaret Rhodes, the first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and the niece of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Margaret was born into the Scottish aristocracy. This is a fascinating account of a special life, with the author's family relationships to nobility and royalty and a life lived to the full.
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Bruce, Meg and Me by Gregor Ewing (1 April 2015). (Amazon paid link.) Gregor Ewing writes a personal account of his 1,000 mile walk over nine weeks with collie Meg that takes them through Northern Ireland and the central belt of Scotland, literally following in Robert the Bruce s footsteps. Gregor frames his expedition with historical background that follows Robert the Bruce s journey to start a campaign which led to his famous victory seven years later.
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The Victorian Elliots in Peace and War by John Evans (10 May 2012). (Amazon paid link.) This book is part history and part an account of the daily life of a large aristocratic family with homes in Roxburghshire in Scotland, and in fashionable Eaton Square in London. The action takes place in Britain and across the world, in such places as Brazil and Uruguay, Morocco, China, Cape Province, Russia, Corfu, the Crimea, Bulgaria, Prussia, Italy, Sicily and the Vatican.
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On Tour with Thomas Telford by Chris Morris (3 June 2015). (Amazon paid link.) Born into poverty in the Scottish Border country in 1757, Thomas Telford rose to become a towering figure of the Industrial Revolution. Incorporating material from the author's earlier book Thomas Telford's Scotland, this new edition is a visual celebration of Telford's architectural and engineering legacy, from the mighty Menai Bridge to the harbours, manses and chapels of the remote Scottish Highlands.
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High Endeavours: The Life and Legend of Robin Smith (Paperback) by Jimmy Cruickshank (26 Oct 2006). (Amazon paid link.) A balanced and extremely readable appraisal of the life and tragic death of a legend. Robin Smith was one of the most daring climbers ever to have tackled a mountain. And he was just 23 when he died. This definitive biography...
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Higher Ground: A Mountain Guide's Life by Martin Moran (20 March 2014). (Amazon paid link.) For decades now, Martin Moran has made his living as a mountain guide based in Wester Ross. Martin has climbed and guided in the Alps, Norway, and the Himalayas, experiencing life changing adventures, near death experiences, meeting and guiding many interesting people. He has lived life in the mountains to the full and this is his story.
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Crimestopper: Fighting Crime on Scotland's Streets by Bryan McLaughlin (1 November 2012). (Amazon paid link.) Bryan McLaughlin faced the challenge of tackling crime on Glasgow's mean streets and throughout Scotland for more than 30 years, finding himself involved with nearly 300 killings. He started as a bobby on the beat, worked in the elite Serious Crime Squad and later headed up the force's Criminal Intelligence Branch. When he retired he became a private eye.
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Growling in the Kennel of Justice: Lawyers' Reflections on the Legacy of Robert Burns by Allan Nicolson (28 September 2014). (Amazon paid link.) In unfolding the backstory of the Bard's life and working through the voices of 22 lawyers from Burns's era, Allan Nicolson subtly unravels a tale at once familiar and new. Blending Burns's verse, correspondence and law reports of the time, we find a novel analysis of the legacy of the Scottish poet.
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Telling Tales: Growing Up on a Highland Farm by Jane Yeadon (9 April 2015). (Amazon paid link.) Growing up on a farm in the north of Scotland could be both rewarding and challenging. Now, bestselling author Jane Yeadon recounts her childhood before her nursing adventures started, in her own unique and entertaining style. Telling Tales recounts how Jane learns about her place in the scheme of things, the hard way.
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The Darkness Below by Rod Macdonald (6 October 2011). (Amazon paid link.) A collection of absorbing adventures gained from a lifetime in diving. As one of the UK's leading Technical Divers, Rod takes the reader on a spellbinding and gripping journey. Told in intimate detail with a beguiling sense of self-deprecating humour, he recounts epic dives on some of the most fabulous shipwrecks around the world.
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The Next Stop: Inverness to Edinburgh, Station by Station by Simon Varwell (9 March 2014). (Amazon paid link.) After years travelling by train between Inverness and Edinburgh, Simon Varwell realised that he knew very little about the places on the line. So over the course of six days in 2012, he stopped at all twenty-three stations. It was a trip that led him to the unknown, the beautiful, the isolated, the depressingly mundane, the run-down, and the haunting.
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Tretower to Clyro: Essays by Karl Miller (7 July 2011). (Amazon paid link.) Karl Miller is one of the greatest literary critics of the last fifty years, the founder of the London Review of Books and Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College, London. In this last book of essays he turns his attention to appreciate a number of British, and especially Scottish, writers.
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Natural Mechanical (Paperback) by J.O. Morgan (20 Feb 2009) This is a beautiful, lyrical book. It presents a series of biographical insights into the life of Rocky, a boy growing up on the Isle of Skye. Told in the form of a highly accessible poem this is a book likely to increase significantly the number of people who regard themselves as readers of poetry.
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That Curious Fellow: Captain Basil Hall, RN by James McCarthy (29 September 2011). (Amazon paid link.) Son of a scientifically-minded Scottish aristocrat, Basil Hall joined the Royal Navy at the age of 13 in 1802. Renowned for his curiosity and energy, he became a popular writer himself based on his world-wide travels and adventures, including his involvement in the liberation of Peru and his epic journeys in North America and across the sub-continent of India.
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Tom Weir: An Anthology by Tom Weir, Edited by Hamish M. Brown (20 June 2013). (Amazon paid link.) To mark the bicentenary of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, this volume provides biographies of the eight membes of the Stevenson family who between them built many of Scotland's lighthouses and gives a detailed account of the building of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, one of the engineering marvels of its day.
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Call Me Sister: District Nursing Tales from the Swinging Sixties by Jane Yeadon (10 October 2013). (Amazon paid link.) It's the late '60s and Jane Yeadon wants to be a district nurse. Jane's about to find that the drama on district can demand instant reaction; and without hospital back up, she's usually the one having to provide it. The story of Jane's challenging and often hilarious route to realising her own particular dream.
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Bonnie Prince Charlie: A Life by Peter Pininski (12 March 2012). (Amazon paid link.) The life of one of Scotland's most romantic and tragic figures. Prince Charles Edward Stuart, known as 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', achieved international fame at the age of twenty-five as the man who led the Rising of 1745 against George II which nearly restored his exiled royal family, the Stuarts, to the thrones of Scotland, England and Ireland.
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Lord James by Catherine Hermary-Vieille (6 December 2010). (Amazon paid link.) A well told historical novel recounting the story of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. It focuses on his intense and deeply ill fated relationship with Mary Queen of Scots that culminated with their ill judged marriage. Their story is one of the great tragedies of Scottish history, and this book brings it vividly to life.
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