Waverley by Sir Walter Scott is an enthralling tale of love, war and divided loyalties. Taking place during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, the novel tells the story of proud English officer Edward Waverley. After being posted to Dundee, Edward eventually befriends chieftain of the Highland Clan Mac-Ivor, and falls in love with his beautiful sister Flora. He then renounces his former loyalties in order actively to support Scotland in open rebellion against the Union with England. The book ...

In To the Island of Tides, Alistair Moffat travels to and through the history of the fated island of Lindisfarne. Walking from his home in the Borders, through the historical landscape of Scotland and northern England, he takes us on a pilgrimage in the footsteps of saints and scholars, before arriving for a secular retreat on the Holy Isle. Lindisfarne, famous for its monastery, has long been a place of sanctuary. It is an island rich in history: the Romans knew it as Insula Medicata; it ...

Told by servant Ephraim Mackellar, The Master of Ballantrae is set at the time of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 and portrays the Durie family. James abandons his ancestral home to support the Jacobites while his younger brother, Henry, loyal to the English King, remains. However, years later James, who had been supposed dead, returns to claim his inheritance, resulting in a feud between the brothers that shifts from the Scottish Highlands to the Wild West of America.

Written in 1819 but set in 12th-century England, Ivanhoe is a tale of love struggling to survive against a violent backdrop of politics and war. Wilfred of Ivanhoe has been thrown out of his father’s home after falling in love with his father Cedric’s ward, Lady Rowena. Ivanhoe later returns from fighting in the Crusades and is wounded in a jousting tournament. A series of events follows, including the return of King Richard to England, resulting in Ivanhoe’s reconciliation with Cedric and...

Jonathan Oldbuck, the antiquary of the title, has a passion for the past and delights in trying to convey it. He meets the mysteriously taciturn young Lovel and the two strike up a friendship, bonding over Roman ruins. When Lovel falls for Isabella, daughter of a local landowner, it looks like an impossible situation. Sharp, funny, gothic, romantic, and full of action, this is a thoroughly entertaining window on Scottish life in the summer of 1794: it was Scott’s intention to show the spir...

A leading industrialist of the 19th and 20th centuries, Andrew Carnegie was one of America’s most successful and generous businessmen. The Autobiography tells of his rise to power, from humble beginnings in Scotland to controlling the biggest steel empire in the history of the United States. Carnegie lays down the blueprint for success, with an abundance of inspiring life lessons, while also giving unique first-hand impressions of burgeoning 19th-century America and some of the most promin...

'Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.'Often regarded as one of the greatest novels of the twenty-first century, Les Misérables has been adapted several times across film, television and the stage, including the hugely successful musical of the same name.A sweeping epic set in nineteenth-century France on the cusp of revolution, Les Misérables charts the entwined lives of a rich cast of characters. Hugo begins with the story of Jean...

SEALED WITH A KISSDeath is as common as breath. Amid the bloody turmoil of the American Revolution, young Océane Frankenstein uses her misbegotten knowledge and aching sorrows to usurp the bounds of mortality, crafting life from death. Thus awakens a tragic being who does not assuage his maker, but mirrors the tormented depths of her soul.The story of Océane and her Creature is born of violence and sublime terror. Of grief and obsession. Of love ...

'There is a germ of revolt in every injustice.'Part of Zola's ambitious twenty-volume series Les Rougon-Macquart, Germinal is one of the most notable novels written in the French tradition and is often considered Zola's masterpiece.First serialised in the periodical Gil Blas in 1884, Germinal is a profoundly gripping novel that explores the harsh realities of industrial life in nineteenth century France. When Étienne Lantier arrive...

"All human wisdom is contained in these two words—wait and hope."David Rintoul delivers a defining performance of Dumas' timeless tale.Revenge, justice, and reinvention collide in this electrifying classic.The Count of Monte Cristo follows Edmond Dantès, a young sailor betrayed by those he trusts and condemned to a life he doesn't deserve. After a daring escape and the discovery of a vast hidden treasure, he transforms himself into th...

‘Were it not for shadows there would be no beauty.’ In Praise of Shadows is an eloquent tribute to the austere beauty of traditional Japanese aesthetics. Through architecture, ceramics, theatre, food, women and even toilets, Tanizaki explains the essence of shadows and darkness, and how they are able to augment beauty. He laments the heavy electric lighting of the West and its introduction to Japan, and shows how the artificial, bright and polished aesthetic of the West contrasts unfavoura...

'Lin Anderson is one of Scotland’s national treasures' – Stuart MacBride, Sunday Times bestselling author of the Logan McRae series**'The start of a very special new series' – Deon Meyer, international bestselling author of the Benny Griessel seriesWhen everyone knows your name, every case is personal . . .Meet DI Erling Flett in The High Island, the heart-racing crime thriller that you won't be able to put down. F...