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Some people regard facts as inconvenient obstacles to their creativity, while I’m inclined to view them as a trampoline. DIANA GABALDONWhat is the ‘Outlander Effect’?How does Outlander shape understanding of clan identity and Jacobite allegiance?How does the series balance modern feminist perspectives with historical realities?How does Diana Gabaldon answer ten key questions about her work?Inspired by Scotland’s tumultuous history of ‘treachery, betrayal and murder’, the Outlander series has fired unprecedented global interest in Highland dress, Scottish history and Gaelic culture. In this landmark book, Diana Gabaldon shares her strong views on cultural appropriation and answers ten key Outlander questions. Outlander and Scotland offers a fascinating and sometimes surprising range of insights. Informed voices from the worldwide Outlander community discuss the storytelling, the characters, the real histories behind the fiction and the questions of gender and power Diana Gabaldon raises. It’s all Claire’s fault that there’s time travel in these stories. DIANA GABALDON

From the smooth stones and intricate sand patterns illuminated by sunlight to the vibrant hues of dawn and the tranquil shades of sunset, this collection captures the stunning beauty of the Isle of Iona. Through the lens of a devoted visitor, the photographs reveal the island’s varied moods, colours and the ever-changing light.Divided into nine thematic sections, each collection showcases the intimate details and expressions of the landscape. Accompanying each series is a reflective essay that shares the author’s memories, emotional responses and sensory experiences, blending photography with personal narrative. This work serves as a heartfelt love letter to Iona, a homage to a lifelong connection with this remarkable place.

I confess that I am a witch. I have sold myself body and soul unto Satan. My mother took me to the Blinkbonny Woods where we met other witches. I put a hand on the crown of my head and the other on the sole of my foot. I gave everything between unto him.Scotland, late seventeeth century. A young woman is accused of witchcraft. Tortured with pins and sleep deprivation, she is using all of her the Scottish witch-hunt began.Probably more than a thousand men and women were exectued for witchcraft before the frenzy died down. When Edinburgh-based Advocate John MacKenzie and his assistant Davie Scougall investigate the suspicious death of a woman denounced as a witch, they find themselves in a village overwhelmed by superstition, resentment and puritanical religion. In a time of spiritual, political and social upheaval, will reason allow MacKenzie to reveal the true evil lurking in the town, before the witch-hunt claims yet another victim?

Whether as the mothers of the Norse God Heimdall, Morgan and her sisters on Avalon, the nine sisters at the heart of the founding myth of the Gikuyu of Kenya, or witches battling with the Irish St Patrick, stories of nine women, often attending a goddess or linked to a heroic or divine male, exist across much of our world. Triggered by a local story still told in his native Dundee, Stuart McHardy has traced what seems to be memories of groups of nine women, most likely some kind of priestesses, across much of Europe and as far as Siberia, Korea, India and Africa. Whether as Pictish saints, Muses, Valkyries, Druidesses or witches, the tales of these groups of nine women transcend a vast range of cultural and linguistic boundaries. The painting of nine women dancing round a priapic male in a Catalonian cave painting over fifteen thousand years old suggests these groups may well have been one of the oldest cultural institutions humanity has known.

There is a myth: that travel and exploration are the privileged pastimes of youth. Adventure has an age restriction, and the extraordinary an expiry date. Vicky Jack’s inspiring tale of courage, perseverance and strong-headedness reveals the falsity behind this myth as she becomes the oldest British woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.The Sky’s the Limit is the account of Vicky’s journey from the Munros of her native Scotland to the summit of the world’s highest peak. Her pilgrimage is full of trials as she battles through Antarctic storms, falls off Mt McKinley in Alaska, is shot at in Indonesia, and runs out of oxygen on Mt Everest; yet Vicky’s characteristic determination is never diluted as she strives towards her goal.Anna Magnusson brilliantly captures Vicky’s sense of ambition, faithfully retelling this tale of inspiration, challenge and success. This story is both a reminder to all that it is never too late to chase a childhood ambition, and an encouragement to never give up on your dreams – no matter how out of reach they may seem.

Leonard Cohen has aimed high: to be all Jewish heroes at once. Like Jacob, he struggled with angels. Like David, he sang psalms and seduced women. Like Abraham, he moved from place to place and remained a stranger everywhere. But he never ceased doing what he did best: stepping into avalanches and reviving our hearts. From Montreal and New York to the Greek island of Hydra, Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw the Angels Fall follows the singer’s cosmopolitan life and examines his perpetual dialogues with God, with himself, and with hotel rooms.After twenty years of research, Christophe Lebold, who spent time with the poet in Los Angeles, delivers a stimulating analysis of Cohen’s life and art. Gracefully blending biography and essay, he interrogates the mission the singer had set out for himself: to show us that darkness is just the flip side of light.'The first edition of my book was published in French in late 2013 to good reviews and few readers. Then came 2014. Leonard tells me that if we must meet, it should be soon. He tells me why. A few months later, I am on a plane to Los Angeles.From the first minute, we spoke like old friends, sometimes until late at night. Although he was not well, he let me watch him live for a little. We said things to each other that I can’t repeat. It is not that they are secret; they are just very delicate. Like butterflies or hummingbirds. To repeat them would destroy them.We met again in Los Angeles two months later (he seemed in much better shape). We spent a last afternoon together; we hung out; we had a laugh; smoked a cigarette. And it was time to go.We stayed in touch. We were now friends. In his emails, he always talked about his health as an amusing detail, a little whim of the body. Two weeks before his death, I got a last, humorous, loving email warning me that the “body ferociously insists on gravitational rights.” A little nod at my theme of the fall of men and angels. And then, he left. It broke my heart, of course, but that’s what hearts are for.'

This poetry collection includes verse ranging from the tear-jerking "Green Eye of the Yellow God" to the rarely-printed, bawdy "Eskimo Nell". Much borrowed and rarely returned, this is a very popular book for reading aloud in very good company, preferably after a dram or twa. You are guaranteed a warm welcome if you arrive at a gathering with this little volume in your pocket.

A survivor's tale, this book presents a social history and personal anecdote of those born and raised on the island of Rum before World War I. The largest of four small islands located off the west coast of Scotland, Rum is home to several volcanic peaks and the impressive Kinloch Castle but very few inhabitants. This text rediscovers a way of life gone not long ago yet already almost forgotten.

This guide to the geology of the diverse landforms of the north and west Highlands of Scotland offers the answers to questions as diverse as where fossils can be found on Skye to where the oldest rocks in Europe are located.

Melnikov is a complex man whose personal struggle with the bottle is an inner drama which parallels the tense twists and turns of the spy mystery which unfolds. His options are narrowing. Can he summon the wit and will to survive?

This illustrated text introduces the reader to the mad-cap supporters of Scotland's national soccer team, the "Tartan Army" - a harder core, more eccentric type of travelling soccer fan - and follows the Army on their expeditions around the world during the 1990s.

This is the inside story of a newspaper and nation over five decades. This birth, death and the rebirth of The Scottish Daily Express

This guide follows a trail of places associated with Robert Louis Stevenson. John Cairney, perhaps best known for writing and starring in "The Robert Burns Story", is one of the few people to have visited all the places on the RLS trail.

Come and meet some wild men and tame beasts. Explore the fleeting moment and capture the passing of time in these portrait studies which document a year's journey. Travel across Scotland with poet Valerie Gillies and photographer Rebecca Marr: share their passion for a land where wild men can sometimes be tamed and tame beasts can get really wild. Among the wild men they find are a gunner in Edinburgh Castle, a Highland shepherd, a ferryman on the River Almond, an eel fisher on Loch Ness, a Borders fencer, and a beekeeper on a Lowland estate. The beasts portrayed in their own settings include Clydesdale foals, Scottish deerhounds, Highland cattle, blackface sheep, falcons, lurchers, bees, pigs, cashmere goats, hens, cockerels, tame swans and transgenic lambs.

This work contains the stories of the many closes and wynds of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, from the castle to the palace. It is written with all the knowledge and experience the Witchery Tours have gathered in 15 years of answering queries, and is full of quirky, fun and interesting stories.

The Old Town of Edinburgh has everything. At the highest point is a huge castle. At the foot of the hill there's a palace. Between them are secret gardens, a museum full of toys, a statue of the world famous Greyfriars Bobby, and much more besides. There were murders here too (think of Burke and Hare). There's mystery - is preacher John Knox really buried under parking space 44? And then there are the ghosts of Mary King's Close. You can find out about all this and more in this guide. Read the tales of the Old Town, check out the short quizzes and the Twenty Questions page (all the answers are given), and you'll have plenty to see and do.

There it is again, hope. The defeat and the despair I can stand, but it’s the hope that kills me, as if the Cause wasn’t lost, as if Father hadn’t died in vain. As if any one of us could possibly come out of this alive…Following the death of his father, 13-year-old Archie MacDonald has lost faith in the Jacobite Cause. Having witnessed their clan’s terrible defeat at the Battle of Culloden, Archie and his feisty cousin Meg flee back to Lochaber to lie low.Or so they think.Until the fugitive Prince’s life depends on them.When Prince Charles Edward Stuart looks to the people of Borrodale for help, will the young stable boy support the rebellion that has cost him so dearly?With enemies closing in, the Prince’s fate now rests in the hands of a stable boy and a maid with a white cockade.Who will survive this deadly game of hide-and-seek?

The book provides an overview and analysis of the witch trials in the Scottish Borders in the 17th century. The 17th century was a time of upheaval in Scottish and British history, with a civil war, the abolition of the monarchy, the plague and the reformation all influencing the social context at the time. This book explores the social, political, geographical, religious and legal structures that led to the increased amount of witch trials and executions in the Scottish Borders. As well as looking at specific trials the book also explores the role of women, both as accuser and as accused.

This extensive collection of Scots nursery rhymes and lullabies ranges from ancient to the modern day. They are sorted by suitable age ranges, and contextualising notes and word definitions are added when necessary. Contains black and white illustrations throughout by highly regarded artist Bob Dewar.

Riddoch on the Outer Hebrides is a thought-provoking commentary based on broadcaster Lesley Riddoch's cycle journey through a beautiful island chain facing seismic cultural and economic change. Her experience is described in a typically affectionate but hard-hitting style; with humour, anecdote and a growing sympathy for islanders tired of living at the margins but fearful of closer contact with mainland Scotland.

It’s 1994, Kurt Cobain has just died, and teenager Alex is spending the summer working in her Aunt’s Bed and Breakfast in rural Argyll. The village pace of life is slow compared to home in Edinburgh and Alex resigns herself to a quiet summer spent serving breakfasts and making beds. Everything changes however once she meets the twin brothers who live next door.Spanning the next fifteen years of Alex’s life, Fade Into You is a love letter to growing up in Scotland in the 90s and 2000s. Set against a backdrop of T in the Park and the war in Iraq, soundtracked by Britpop and Grunge mixtapes, with the sweet taste of tablet, it is a novel about growing up and growing apart. It explores the intensity of childhood friendships, how they change as we get older but how they never really leave us.

In his latest book, Bill Hare offers a comprehensive view of Scottish art from 1945 to the present day.

They all excited and inspired me by how they fought their corners […] So I want to place them all round a fantasy dinner-table, not just to dine, but to relive how I saw them in action and how much they had in common.Who would be on your dream dinner party guest list? Over his 50 years in broadcasting, Archie Macpherson has seen many sports personalities come and go; in Touching the Heights he collects the 13 who have inspired him most around his fantasy dinner table. Some are well-known, others less so, but all shaped both their sport and those, like Macpherson, who watched their careers unfold.Tommy Docherty · Jackie Paterson · Jim Baxter Eric Brown · Jimmy Johnstone · Sandra Whittaker Dr Richard Budgett · Ally MacLeod · Jock Stein · Sir Alex Ferguson · Bill McLaren · Jim MacLean · Graeme SounessFrom football to golf, boxing to athletics, Touching the Heights celebrates the breadth of Scottish sporting achievement. Whether telling the tale of a boy who acquired new shoes by stealing them from the local baths, or that of a distinguished medical scientist at the centre of sporting transgender debates, one thing unites them all: Without them life would have been much poorer.

Strap on yir seatbelts for a brah an’ bumpy ride alang eviry twist an’ turn o’ the Dundonese dehelict.From the vehrus to the V&Eh, from matteramonial matters to shoppin’ – and never forgetting pehzn beans an’ pehzn peas – Wha Bohked in the Aspadeestra? is a delightful slice of the Tayside pie. Peppered with Bob Dewar’s quirky illustrations and salted with Norman Watson’s tongue-in-cheek translations, this wee gem of a book will resonate with Dundonians and their kin the world over.M’wah. E’ve got tae skoot!

Glasgow. 2007. Emo culture is thriving, but fifteen-year-old Cathy O’Kelly’s world couldn’t be more insular. It’s her first day at high school. Bullied out of primary, she’s got a new start after two years being taught at home by her Mammy. She’s dreaming of getting the marks she needs to be a proper Scots writer and avoiding getting on the wrong side of the neds. Again. But her bully doesn’t wear a tracksuit. Mark’s a third year in an oversized hoodie and Converse. A poet. Or so he wants to be. When he learns of Cathy’s dream, he’s makes it his mission to tear it down — and win her admiration.Will a chance encounter with a punk band at Glasgow’s seminal underage club save her? Or will a different kind of bully push Cathy further into herself?

The postman and the primary teacher, the midwife and the musician. Workers in shops, workers at sea. Solidarity with the Columbian farmer and the Palestinian fireman… Modern trade unionists in Scotland perform roles in every imaginable location and are drawn from all backgrounds. They campaign to win on issues facing the colleague next to them or a comrade thousands of miles away. ’Mon the Workers tells their stories in their own words. It is a celebration of 125 years of the STUC, and a clarion call for the next generation to agitate, organise and win. This book demonstrates past achievements, explores the ideas trade unionists have fought for and rouses the movement towards future victories. 75 trade union members, reps and officials share experiences of union life from the anti-apartheid movement to Wick Wants Work. Alan McCredie’s charismatic portraits of 50 other activists from the trade union movement provide a complementary visual narrative. This very human book pulses with the energy of Scotland’s trade union movement, which has achieved so much and still has more to do.

Commissioned especially for Scotland’s Year of Stories, Storm and Shore connects the west coast of Scotland’s rich mythological past with the present day. When artist Lucy Salter comes to a remote Argyll coastline she aims to connect with nature in its wild state. Aid worker Dave McArthur is fleeing traumatic conflict. But they have both ventured into a borderland, layered by history, migration and repressed violence. Itis a liminal place, storied by centuries of settlement and travel.Yet local tradition bearers, bard and seannachaidh, can channel the past. From these hauntings, a storytelling tapestry is woven from the sea, nature myth and weather. The long roots of our global crisis are laid bare in landfalls, wherein the crucible of Gaelic tradition, creatures of the sea meet the shore.

AW ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MAIR EQUAL THAN ITHERSIt didnae seem unco when Napoleon wis seen daunderin aboot the fairmhoose gairden wi a pipe in his mooth...Frae the instant o its first publication ower seeventy year syne, Animal Fairm, in mony weys, has come tae be oor socio-political urtext – oor wan-singer-wan-sang, oor collective pairty piece, the script we’re doomed tae keep repeatin...George Orwell’s faur-kent novel Animal Fairm, yin o Time magazine’s 100 brawest English-leid novels o aw time, has been translatit intae Scots for the verra first time by Thomas Clark. When the animals o Manor Fairm cast aff thirldom an tak control frae Mr Jones, they hae howps for a life o freedom an equality. But when the pigs Napoleon and Snawbaw rise tae pouer, the ither animals find oot that they’re mebbe no aw as equal as they’d aince thocht. A tragic political allegory described by Orwell as bein ‘the history o a revolution that went wrang’, this buik is as relevant noo – if no mair sae – as when it wis first set oot.