This text comprises the whole history of Scotland from the Stone Age to the 1990s. Each spread is devoted to a key chapter from the past and summarizes the main points.

For almost 200 years Edinburgh was surrounded by a giant defensive wall. Unable to expand its boundaries, it became the most densely populated city in Europe. An underground slum developed which existed for over 350 years until it was eventually abandoned in the mid-19th century.This work chronicles Edinburgh's secret city: its history, its inhabitants and the lives they led, the story of its rediscovery, where it existed and where to find the parts that remain.

Scotland gave golf to the world. With more golf courses per head than any other country, it is still a golfer's paradise. Scotland's strength lies in the host of enjoyable courses throughout the land which welcome visitors, and this book helps visitors to find these clubs. A complete list of every course in Scotland, revised and updated for this edition.

Conveying a sense of the growth, development and variety of fiction by women in 20th-century Scotland, this volume provides historical and cultural context for the detailed discussion of 11 novels. It features works by such authors as Catherine Carswell, Willa Muir and Muriel Spark.

Scotland is a vast and varied landscape, ranging from mountains and moorland in the highlands to lowland vales, rolling hills and many miles of coastline including rocky indentations, steep sided sea lochs and cliffs, wide estuaries and firths and many off- shore islands. These all give rise to a huge range of habitats for the many differing bird species and birdwatchers can expect to find some of the best and least crowded opportunities for observation in the UK, possibly being rewarded with rare sightings.The book, originally published in 1989, has been updated twice and now contains more than 120 sites accompanied by maps and line drawings.

"articulate and irrepressible. . . uniquely imaginative and stimulating. . . one of Scotland's leading historians. . . there is more to be learned from the jokes and salutary asides in this book than from most sober narratives"