Posts Tagged ‘review’
A dark thriller set in a fictional highland village
Partial to Tartan Noir and a dram by the fire? Then this is a no-brainer. Alan Gillespie’s prose is as intense as a peated single malt (a seriously macabre tone is set from the off with brutal descriptions of a cat lying on the road). Set in a fictional Highland village, there are more twists…
Read MoreA good read that’s definitely up to par
Know someone with an enviable handicap? Add this to their list of Christmas presents. Showcasing 14 of the most beautiful links courses in Scotland including Turnberry, Carnoustie and the much-loved Old Course, a stunning collection of photos (including drone shots of each hole) feature alongside interesting historical factoids of each location. It reminds you of…
Read MoreA fascinating look at the castles of Lewis and beyond
Peter Cunningham casts an eye over the pivotal moments, people and places that moulded the island’s history in The Castles of the Lews. He uses the castles of the Island of Lewis as a focal point, including Stornoway, Seaforth and Lews Castle. With wonderful illustrations and images to accompany his analysis, those with an intimate…
Read MoreThe essential guide to the Outer Hebrides
We really are paging the oracle on north-west Outer Hebridean life here. Frank Rennie, professor of Sustainable Rural Development who lives in South Galson and has been instrumental in developing the region for four decades, writes of the area’s great personal, natural and cultural significance. From his formative experiences of the region to its resident…
Read MoreAlternative past with Scotland under Nazi occupation
Few can write as evocatively of our country’s past as Alistair Moffat. Stepping away from his usual historical tomes, he reimagines WWII through this extraordinary piece of speculative fiction, taking you on a journey to investigate what might have been had Nazi Germany won the war. Set in a disturbing post-1945 world where German occupation…
Read MoreA hugely important book for the countryside
Three quarters of the world’s stock of heather uplands is to be found in the UK, much of it in Scotland, and it has become a political, cultural and environmental battleground. The subtitle of this book – ‘The Battle for the Uplands against Authoritarian Conservation’ – gives a sense of what to expect from this…
Read MoreBook chronicles Dundee’s changing fortunes
For years, whenever we as Scots thought of Dundee, collectively the old cliche of jute, jam and comics were the obvious answers. But, with the passage of time, and in particular the arrival of the V&A on the banks of the Tay, that image has been completely eroded and modernised, as Dundee’s economy has diversified…
Read MoreA meticulous account of the battle for equality
Struggle and Suffrage in Glasgow comes with the subtitle of ‘women’s lives and the fight for equality’, and that’s exactly what this book is. It chronicles events that took place as the women of Glasgow battled for the right to vote: marching on the streets, daring escapes from under the noses of police officers, and…
Read MoreA crime thriller in a turbulent period of history
Scottish crime fiction is a wonderfully rich and diverse area, as authors all over the land create their own characters and scenarios, with murders to solve. Unlike many others, Douglas Watt has taken a slight twist on the genre, by turning back the clock, as investigative advocate John MacKenzie cracks crimes in the 17th century…
Read MoreA moving novel with a forgotten Scottish shame
In 1950s Scotland, thousands of children were removed from their families for a ‘better life’ in the rural idyll of the Scottish Highlands as ‘boarded-out’ children. In Mick, by Willie Orr, he has crafted the moving story of Mick Crossan, removed by social services from his widowed mother and slum home in the Gorbals and…
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