I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmont to bach's Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach." Prentice McHoan has returned to the bosom of his complex but enduring Scottish family. Full of questions about the McHoan past, present and future, he is also deeply preoccupied: mainly with death, sex, drink, God and illegal substances...

    Life among the warring factions in Scotland was dangerous for the infant Queen, however, and at age five Mary was sent to France to be raised alongside her betrothed, the Dauphin Francois. Surrounded by all the sensual comforts of the French court, Mary's youth was peaceful, charmed, and when she became Queen of France at the age of sixteen, she seemed to have all she could wish for. But by her eighteenth birthday, Mary was a widow who had lost one throne and had been named by the Pope for another. And her extraordinary adventure had only begun. Defying her powerful cousin Elizabeth I, Mary set sail in 1561 to take her place as the Catholic Queen of a newly Protestant Scotland. A virtual stranger in her volatile native land, Mary would be hailed as a saint, denounced as a whore, and ultimately accused of murdering her second husband, Lord Darnley, in order to marry her lover, the Earl of Bothwell. She was but twenty-five years old when she fled Scotland for the imagined sanctuary of Elizabeth's England, where she would be embroiled in intrigue until she was beheaded "like a criminal" in 1587. In her stunning first novel, The Autobiography of Henry VIII, Margaret George established herself as one of the finest historical novelists of our time. Now she brings us a new, mesmerizing blend of history and storytelling as she turns the astonishing facts of the life of Mary Queen of Scots into magnificent fiction that sweeps us from the glittering French court where Mary spent her youth, to the bloodstained Scotland where she reigned as Queen, to the cold English castles where she ended her days. Never before have we been offered such arich and moving portrayal of the Scots Queen, whose beauty inspired poetry, whose spirit brought forth both devotion and hatred, and whose birthright generated glorious dreams, hideous treachery, and murdered men at her feet.

    During his travels, Alexander Carmichael spent hours with peasants in their huts in front of peat fires listening as they "intoned in a low, recitative manner" these poems and prayers. This unique collection of living spirituality drawn from the depths of Celtic Christianity, represents a hidden oral tradition of great power and beauty, handed down through countless generations of Hebridean peasants.Previously available only as a bilingual text in six volumes, this edition in English contributes to a broader awareness of Celtic literature in general. John MacInnes' introduction puts the poems in the context of the life and folklore of the Gaelic community.

    Godwin Baxter's scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realized when he finds the drowned body of Bella, but his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless's jealous love for Baxter's creation.The hilarious tale of love and scandal that ensues would be "the whole story" in the hands of a lesser author (which in fact it is, for this account is actually written by Dr. McCandless). For Gray, though, this is only half the story, after which Bella (a.k.a. Victoria McCandless) has her own say in the matter. Satirizing the classic Victorian novel, Poor Things is a hilarious political allegory and a thought-provoking duel between the desires of men and the independence of women, from one of Scotland's most accomplished author.

    Reaching back into the past provides the key to true happiness in three piercingly romantic novels from the best-loved author

    Fourteen selkie (half-seal half-human creatures) tales from the Orkney and Shetland islands which embrace the fantasy, romance and unusual perspective of the Scottish travellers.

    It is five years later and Scotland still does not have that and its state has worsened. The original chapters have been revised and largely rewritten. New chapters dealing with Scottish education, land-owning and law, and the Labour Party bring the arguments to date. Intending to persuade people who feel their vote does not much influence how their country is managed, the book emphasizes that Scottish independence does matter. Alasdair Gray is the author of "Lanark" and "Unlikely Stories Mostly".

    Her noble father lay dead. With his murderer, Edward MacHugh, in hot pursuit, she galloped wildly to freedom only to fall into the arms of a golden-eyed Gypsy. Born of a Gypsy mother, Logan Chandler, true Earl of Muircairn, wore many disguises. Committed to a desperate plan, he was amazed to find that his love for this proud beauty ran even deeper than his lust for vengeance.Safe yet reviled as an alien among his people, Kristiana's trust in her virile protector would be sorely tested. Only in the face of certain death would she discover that they shared one heart ... and be forced to betray him. Returning to Castle Muircairn -- a woman wed to two men; one beloved, one abhorred -- her hope lay in the slender chance that Logan still lived. For only he could triumph over MacHugh's black treachery ... to reclaim the land and the love that was their radiant birthright.

    It was no easy task. A new journey, with its inherent deprivations and discomforts, could not be done to order. It had to be a compulsion - an inspiration.

    Taking his evidence from contemporary sources, Ian Gentles describes its formation under Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, their innovative tactics, the course of its decisive victories over the forces of Charles I, and its ferociously successful campaigns against the Scots and the Irish. As importantly, he examines the motivations and aspirations of the soldiers and their officers. The question of how far the New Model was a revolutionary army and how far a body of men whose religious passion was manipulated for the pragmatic, personal, or even conservative aims of its leaders is one that has occupied the minds of historians for three centuries. Ian Gentles provides a convincing resolution of this debate, raising new evidence to support his argument.

    

    What is the truth behind the many myths surrounding the Highland past? Who were the Scottish Highlanders and where did they come from? What part did they play in Scotland's evolution as a nation state? How did Highlanders become one of the most widely-dispersed peoples on Earth? This book introduces the reader to the people of the Scottish Highlands, to the sort of men and women, past and present, whose fierce attachment to their Gaelic language and their Celtic heritage ensured the survival of so much of what makes the Scottish Highlands unique.