‘Stepping Westward Writing the Highland Tour c.1720-1830 ‘, by Nigel Leask (published by Oxford University Press) This remarkable book is timely to a degree far beyond anything the author could…
What brought about the Brexit own goal? Increasingly clearly much more than a protest against the EU. We’ve all seen the analysis of the vote that reveals a very real…
‘Scotland and Arbroath 1320-2020 ‘, edited by Klaus Peter Müller (published by Peter Lang) This a very strange book in a range of ways. Its striking subtitle is ‘700 Years…
‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney (published by Faber & Faber) I’m about to become the most unloved person in the UK. The TV version of Normal People opens with a…
‘Edwin Morgan, In Touch With Language, A New Prose Collection 1950-2005’, edited by John Coyle and James McGonigal (published by the Association for Scottish Literary Studies) The Association for Scottish…
I’ve just returned after a stressful week in London. The initial Friday was fine and I much enjoyed the London Oriana Choir’s Beethoven 250 concert in which my son took…
‘Francis Hutcheson, Philosophical Writings’ (edited by Robin Downie and published by John Donald) First published in 1994, this selection from the works of the major Scottish philosopher Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746)…
CULTURE Fully unauthorised Books: Andrew Hook David Torrance ‘Nicola Sturgeon, A Political Life’, by David Torrance, Birlinn ‘How David Cameron Saved Scotland, And May Yet Save Us All’, by Owen…
Shetland. Photogragh by Islay McLeod ’60 Degrees North, Around the World in Search of Home’ by Malachy Tallack (Polygon) ‘Poacher’s Pilgrimage, An Island Journey’, by Alastair McIntosh (Birlinn) These are…
Good news of any kind is in short supply these days. Two areas of our life in which negative reports prevail are the behaviour of today’s teenagers, and the state…