What makes literature? How does it work? How do we read it? This work explores these questions and varying literary styles and authorship. It deals with openings, point of view, speech, gender and pop fiction. The book includes a wide-range of literary extracts, from the classics of Hardy and Austen, to the contemporary work of Raymond Carver, Angela Carter, Nick Hornby and Irvine Welsh.

This is the first history of the harp in Scotland to be published. It sets out to trace the development of the instrument from its earliest appearance on the Pictish stones of the 8th century, to the present day. Describing the different harps played in the Highlands and the Lowlands of Scotland, the authors examine the literary and physical evidence for their use within the Royal Courts and "big houses" by professional harpers and aristocratic amateurs. They vividly follow the decline of ...