In this updated edition of his "utterly magnificent" social history, the Scottish parliamentarian examines the privatization of Scotland's common land ( Sunday Herald, UK).As an author, activist, and politician, Andy Wightman has made a career of fighting for Scottish land reform. In this provocative and influential book, Wightman offers a revealing analysis of how and why landowners got their hands on the millions of acres that were once held in common. He...

In October 2007, writers Mike Small and Kevin Williamson launched Bella Caledonia at the Radical Book Fair in Edinburgh. Since then, Bella has consistently explored ideas of self-determination and offered Scotland's most robust and insightful political commentary. In the run up to Scottish independence referendum, international interest grew and Bella Caledonia had more than 500,000 unique users a month, with a peak of one million in August ― and since then has been given multiple awards r...

This unique "fusion of science and the physical history" traces the story of the Scots through their DNA ( Sunday Herald).An almost limitless archive of our history lies hidden inside our bodies, and this book traces the ancient story of Scotland from that scientific viewpoint. The mushrooming of genetic studies, of DNA analysis, is rewriting history in spectacular fashion.In Scotland: A Genetic Journey, Alistair Moffat explores the history ...

A British historian explores the mysterious Scottish culture of the Iron Age and Early Middle Ages whose enigmatic symbols adorn standing stones.The Picts were an ancient nation who ruled most of northern and eastern Scotland during the Dark Ages. Despite their historical importance, they remain shrouded in myth and misconception. Absorbed by the kingdom of the Scots in the ninth century, they lost their unique identity, their language and their vibrant artistic cul...

An "exciting and dramatic" history of the raiders who ruled the lawless Anglo-Scottish borderlands for over a century ( Cumberland News).Nowhere else in Britain in the modern era, or indeed in Europe, did civil order break down over such a wide area, or for such a long time, as on the border country between Scotland and England. For more than a century, the hoofbeats of countless raiding parties drummed over the border. From Dumfriesshire to the high wastes...

A "compelling, thought-provoking and entertaining history" of Hadrian's Wall, one of Britain's most intriguing landmarks ( Herald).Hadrian's Wall is the largest and one of the most enigmatic historical monuments in Britain. Nothing else approaches its vast scale: a land wall running seventy-three miles from east to west and a sea wall stretching at least twenty-six miles down the Cumbrian coast. Many of its forts are as large as Britain's most formidable me...

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER PERFECT FOR FANS OF OUTLANDER The true story of one of Scotland’s most notorious and romantic heroes.He was a spy, a clan-chief, a traitor. A polyglot, a deserter and a man of philosophy.Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, was the last of the great Scottish chiefs – and the last nobleman executed for treason. In life, his wit, ambition and dubious sense of morality kept him in the thick of political intrigue. With a taste for risk and d...

A "beautifully written" history of the Scottish Borders—from the Ice Age to present day—by the author of Scotland: A History from Earliest Times ( Boston Sunday Herald).This is the story of the border: a place of beginnings and endings, of differences and similarities. It is the story of England and Scotland, told not from the remoteness of London or Edinburgh or in the tired terms of national histories, but up close and personal, toe to toe and e...

"The best, the liveliest and most illuminating" account of Rockefeller, Morgan, and the other men who seized American economic power after the Civil War ( The New Republic).John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, E. H. Harriman, Jay Gould, Henry Clay Frick . . . their names carry a powerful historical ring, still echoing today in the countless institutions that are part of their legacy, from universities to museums to bank...

What would it be like if you were transported back to Athens 420 BCE? This time-traveler's guide is a fascinating way to find out . . .Imagine you were transported back in time to Ancient Greece and you had to start a new life there. What would you see? How would the people around you think and believe? How would you fit in? Where would you live? What would you eat? What work would be available, and what help could you get if you got sick?All these question...

The story of the twelfth-century rivalry for the throne between the daughter and the nephew of Henry I—a battle that tore England apart for over a decade.The Anarchy was the first civil war in post-Conquest England, enduring throughout the reign of King Stephen between 1135 and 1154. It ultimately brought about the end of the Norman dynasty and the birth of the mighty Plantagenet kings.When Henry I died having lost his only legitimate son in a shipwreck, his ...

"This elegant, readable book…covers the history of alchemy from its shadowy origins in Hellenistic Egypt to its scholarly recovery in the 20th century" (Anthony Grafton, Science).In The Secrets of Alchemy, science historian and practicing chemist Lawrence M. Principe dispels commonly held misconceptions about alchemy and sheds light on what it was, how it began, and how it influenced a range of other ideas and pursuits. Principe demonstrates the i...