28 Scottish Interest


73395 VICTORIAN SCOTLAND


by James Crawford, Lesley Ferguson and Kristina Watson


For the very first time, RCAHMS - the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland - is showcasing images from its National Collection to illustrate the


landmark era of the Victorian age, and this truly evocative book is the breath-taking result. From the pioneering work of photographers including John Forbes White, William Donaldson Clark, Thomas Annan and Harry Bedford Lemere, to never-before- seen excerpts from private family albums, this volume is a window on the lives of the generation who literally changed the world. The Victorians were the harbingers of the modern age, their society driven by curiosity, a zeal for invention, and an enormous appetite for economic and imperial consumption. There were huge advances in every field, from science and philosophy to industry, agriculture and architecture. By the end of the 19th century, Scotland in particular was a nation transformed. Glasgow had exploded into the second city of the Empire, the majestic Forth Bridge was celebrated as a wonder of the world, and railways had opened the remote Highlands to the new industries of leisure and tourism. But, for every grand museum or gothic-revival country house, tenements and slums rose in their thousands - overcrowded living for the vast army of workers that sustained the great Victorian machine. Ambition and wealth saw social divisions become ever more acute, producing a society obsessed with class hierarchy. All of these aspects are reflected in this superb book. Many of the photos are impressively unique, viz the one in which a curious cast of characters is arranged on Ailsa Craig’s towering gas- powered north foghorn, which was built to support the oil-burning


lighthouse designed by Thomas and David Stevenson between 1883 and 1886. 224 pages 30.5cm x 25cm just bursting with


gorgeously clear b/ w photos, most of them whole page or double page.


£30 NOW £15


72619 LOCHS: Exploring Scotland’s Freshwater Lochs


by Julian Holland


The many freshwater lochs of Scotland are amongst the most beautiful destinations to be found anywhere in Britain. Each of these 30 lochs has its own unique personality: some are famed for their fish, others are rich in flora and


fauna. This book gives readers an insight into their geology, historical background, myths, legends and natural history. Supported by location maps, the text includes details on walks, cycle rides, boat trips, angling, water sports, tourist info and accommodation. From remote Loch Coruisk, set in the Black Cuillins of Skye, via the prison of Mary Queen of Scots in the middle of Loch Leven, to the sinister depths of Loch Morar and the famous monster of Loch Ness, here is a loch to suit every taste. 160 pages 22cm x 30cm, photos and maps.


£19.99 NOW £9


73308 INSIDE EDINBURGH: Discovering the Classic Interiors of Edinburgh


by David Torrance and Steven Richmond In terms of British architectural heritage, Edinburgh is second only to London, boasting an incredible array of public buildings, churches, graveyards, shops, hotels, pubs, banks, schools, domestic interiors and other architectural gems. There are a great many buildings whose exteriors are well-known and celebrated, but few are aware of what lies behind the famous façades and here we are taken on a visit to 75 of the city’s most noteworthy interiors. This beautifully presented softback is arranged in 9½” square format and for each entry we a treated to a superbly photographed interior, full- or double-page in colour, accompanied by a potted history and description of the interior. Edinburgh’s pubs are well represented, including Ian Rankin’s DI Rebus’s favoured water hole, the Oxford Bar. The former boardroom of the Royal Bank of Scotland is relatively austere, harking back to the 19th century days when RBS was a relatively modest provincial business, whereas the dramatic stairwell with overhead glass dome of the Standard Life Assurance Company’s 1839 HQ is grand in the extreme. The Café Royal and the Graeco-Roman splendour of the Dome Grill Room are quite


breathtaking, and the High Gothic of the Thistle Chapel in St. Giles


Cathedral is surely the most


impressive example of the style in the world. 224pp.


£20 NOW £9 73321 BACK O’ THE HILL:


Highland Yesterdays by John G. Gibson


In a most unusual and imaginative blend of history and personal recollection, the author’s childhood memories are filtered through the accumulated knowledge of a life- time of study and research about the Scottish Gaelic world. After years of living in Gaelic-speaking places in Cape Breton and north-


eastern Nova Scotia in Canada, when he revisits the Craigag of his childhood, he notices that language and consciousness are linked and that, even though he writes in English, thoughts and knowledge of the Gaelic world are an important platform for considering the world. There are not many historical records to refer to but what the author has to offer is ‘an outsider’s imagining of an older consciousness, clad in knowledge gained mostly in and from Scotland and the Maritimes of Canada’. He examines the persistence of Gaelic thought and life through ‘so many generations, so many centuries, so many ages, so many oppressions, so many superficial changes’ and underlines the subtle ways in which memory and history can be combined to create a profoundly deep sense of place. 271 nostalgic paperback pages with b/w photos. £14.99 NOW £6


73328 WILD LAND: Images of Nature from the Cairngorms by Peter


Cairns and Mark Hamblin The Cairngorms of east-central Scotland is Britain’s largest National Park and is home to a


huge variety of wildlife. Because of its northerly location and relatively low impact from human activity, there are many species to be found here that are rarely seen further south such as golden eagle, osprey, red deer, red squirrel, pine marten, mountain hare, wild cat and otters. Photographers Peter Cairns and Mark Hamblin have spent many years exploring and capturing the most stunning images of this unique part of Britain, depicting not only the wild animals, trees and habitats of the park but also its geography. They take a look at the animals, now extinct, that once roamed the Grampians, such as bear, wolf, elk, beaver, wild boar, bison and lynx, and through this reflect on the future of Scottish wildlife and how important it is to nurture this fragile land. The images presented here are remarkable, not just for their quality and their subject matter, but also for their rarity. We were enchanted by the wildcat peeping around a tree trunk, the charming little red squirrel atop a lichen- encrusted rock, the moment a golden eagle swoops upon her prey and despatches a mountain hare with lethal precision, the salmon leaping through a foaming waterfall and the osprey powering its wings against the air as it lifts the trout it has just snatched from the loch surface. British nature photography at its best. 152pp, landscape softback, 12"×9", colour. £16.99 NOW £6


71487 HIGHLANDERS: A History of the Highland Clans by Fitzroy Maclean


In this extraordinary and romantic account of the Highlanders, from their earliest Celtic origins to the modern day, Sir Fitzroy MacLean - himself a Knight of the Thistle, Scotland’s highest chivalric order - sheds light on the character and motivation of the clans and brings vividly to life their highly dramatic stories. The reproduction of early Scottish artefacts is exquisite. The volume omits nothing, from Robert the Bruce and Bannockburn, through the Lords of the Isles and the Clan Wars, on to the early Stuarts, the doomed Mary Queen of Scots, the Jacobite Risings of the 18th century, the tragic 19th century Clearances which so nearly meant the end of Scotland, and so to the present day. 276 softback pages, 23cm x 29cm. Colour illus, Clan Glossary and Examples of Tartans. $35 NOW £13


SPORT


73645 THE ECCENTRIC ENTREPRENEUR: Sir Julien Cahn: Businessman,


Philanthropist, Magician and


Cricket-Lover by Miranda Rijks


Sir Julien Cahn (1882- 1944) was a real one-off, one of the most successful and certainly the most eccentric businessmen of 1930s Britain. In 1922 his father died suddenly, devastating Julien. The


£250,000+ (over £7m today) he inherited did help however, and he rapidly expanded the business. It was what he did with the income the business provided that makes Cahn such a fascinating subject. He established and funded the Sir Julien Cahn’s XI cricket team, an internationally renowned group of players who regularly bested national teams on lavish world tours, and he indulged his passion for stage magic by building an art deco theatre at his residence, Stanford Hall near Loughborough. His largesse was legendary, lending huge support to causes such as medicine (paediatrics and obstetrics in particular) and agriculture. He received a baronetcy in 1934 for his charitable works. 218pp 2011 paperback edition, photos. £12.99 NOW £4


73162 BARRY SHEENE: Motorcycle Racing’s


Jet-Set Superstar by Michael Scott Barry Sheen’s exploits inspired generations of fans the world over, and his courage in the face of injury carried his fame still further. Over 34 action-packed years, he became an icon of achievement - this despite the fact that he suffered from asthma and was not naturally blessed with balance and co-ordination. Barry was an


TRANSPORT 73265 GIANTS OF STEAM:


The Great Men and Machines of Rail’s Golden Age by Jonathan Glancey


The author laments the fact that the last steam engine to be built in Britain, the beautiful and powerful Standard Class 92220 Evening Star, was the last of its line, and describes in knowledgeable detail the technology and personalities that brought steam transport to that


point of sophistication. Evening Star’s designers had all been assistants to Sir William Stanier, the legendary chief engineer of the LMS Railway, and British engine design owed a huge amount not only to Stanier but also to the GWR engineer George Churchward who studied American and Continental models and was tragically killed by a locomotive in 1933. In spite of their rivalry, in 1938 Stanier gracefully congratulated Sir Nigel Gresley when the GNER A4 class Mallard achieved the speed record of 126 mph on Stoke Bank north of Grantham. Mallard’s sister engine Silver Link was one of a group that performed heroic feats of haulage on the northbound run during the war: fitted with Kylchap exhaust and chimneys, they were a select band of locomotives with 3,000 horsepower. Gresley’s V2 class Bantam Cock made her debut a few weeks before wartime overwork caused his premature death. The book also looks at German locomotives during the same era, their wartime designs driven by the horrific uses to which they were put, and the achievements of Andre? Chapelon in France. In America, Union Pacific’s Big Boy was twice as long as the most powerful British freight engine, with over a mile of tubing and a 14- wheel tender. 376pp, bibliography, glossary, black and white photos.


£20 NOW £7.50


73626 MOSQUITO FB VI: Airframe, Systems and RAF


Wartime Usage by Dave Brown


In an unusual approach to the depiction of one of the most successful ever of the RAF’s wartime multi-role aircraft, the author has written in layman’s terms a broad technical description of its airframe and systems. This is


intended to give both the Mosquito enthusiast and the modeller alike a clearer understanding of how it was constructed, and to provide a pictorial reference manual that, no matter what scale of kit they are using, will allow readers to produce as accurate as possible a representation of this wonderful plane. The colour photos in the Camouflage and Markings chapter are referenced from photographs that have been chosen to illustrate the variety found within the four standard schemes. The author has also ensured that the colour side elevations correctly depict the aircraft, so that items such as the aerial standard, propeller type and even the early or late production standard undercarriage doors are correct. 96 paperback pages 30cm by 21cm lavishly illustrated in colour, with two appendices: RAF Squadrons and Mosquito FB VI Production Data. £14.99 NOW £7


73617 FAIREY BATTLE:


Aviation Guide by Ian D. Huntley


The Fairey Battle was an aircraft type often quoted as being a failure, when in fact its failure was simply down to the Air Ministry not understanding the changing climate for operational aircraft from the mid to late 1930s. The Battle sums up the end on one era (that of the biplane) with the birth of another


(that as a monococque design) and the type has a charm that is born out of the sleek lines that belies its size. The


excellent helicopter pilot and liked to pilot members of his family to and from venues. Unfortunately, having started to smoke at the age of 11, he died young of cancer. A tragic end to the canny Cockney with the cheeky grin. 224 paperback pages 24.5cm by 24.5cm, colour photos, many previously unpublished, and appendix: Race Results 1968-2002. £12.99 NOW £5


73506 NO BALLS AND GOOGLIES: A Cricket


Companion by Geoff Tibballs Cricket or ‘the elegant game’ occupies a long-established and distinguished position in the annals of sporting history. Skilful and graceful, technical and tactical, the intricacies and multi-faceted nature of the sport has enthralled and baffled spectators in equal measure over the centuries. Delving into its


rich history, the book uncovers traditions, records, milestones and memorable events through an array of facts and figures, anecdotes and curiosities. Did you know for example that cricket was classified as one of several illegal pastimes in the 14th century or that Jasper Vinall became the first known cricketing fatality in 1624 in Sussex? 192pp with woodcut illus. £9.99 NOW £5


71475 BASIC POOL: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide


by Arthur “Babe” Cranfield and Laurence May 80% of good pool is mental and 20% mechanical. Beginning with the basics of pool terminology and etiquette, we then learn how to choose and care for your first cue and how to select the best house cue on


73383 SPITFIRE: Icon of a Nation


by Ivan Rendall


The Spitfire is an exquisite flying machine, a thing of beauty, designed and built at the forefront of technology, fast,


manoeuvrable and deadly in combat. During the Second World War, its distinctive shape


quickly became a national icon, a symbol of defiance and the embodiment of the wartime spirit of an embattled island. That image is still strongly with us today. Here is the story of a unique aeroplane seen through the experiences of those who designed, built, flew, serviced, armed and repaired it in war, and have preserved those few that remain ever since. The book explores their enduring affection and admiration for the Spitfire throughout its history, when fewer than 1,000 pilots stood between Britain and invasion. Although the Spitfire and the Hurricane shared the accolades, it was the Spitfire that emerged as the powerful symbol of national defiance. Its vapour trails high in the summer sky above southeast England were living evidence of Britain’s aerial prowess, the first step towards ultimate victory. Pilots loved it for its speed and responsiveness, its elegance, and the menacing growl of the Merlin engine - which Britons soon came to recognize, and cheer. We just love this book for the quality both of its text and the superb, emotive pictures that evoke an era when people were proud to be British. 288 pages 27cm x 22cm


packed with colour plates and archive b/w photos, with


diagrams. £25 NOW £15


first two VCs awarded to RAF aircrew were to a Battle crew and the first enemy aircraft shot down to an Allied aircraft was credited to a Battle. It was the Battle that proved that the bomber would no longer ‘always get through’ and in so doing set about bomber design and development that encompassed heavy defensive armament and crew protection. The Battle marks the end of an age of innocence. With useful glossary, here is a concise history, covering construction and equipment, camouflage and markings, colour side-views, colour plan views, colour photo section, scale plans and squadrons. 64 page outsize softback. £8 NOW £4


73616 EAGLE’S WINGS: Modelling the Aircraft of the


Luftwaffe Vol.1 by Nicholas J. Wigman This first ‘special’ book from Scale Aviation Modeller International has been created as a direct response to many of the readers of the above magazine who have asked over the past two years whether they would compile the popular Eagle’s Wings series into one edition. It is


intended to be an ongoing series, and this first volume includes seven of the articles produced by the author in the magazine during the 1999 to 2001 period. All Luftwaffe modellers should find this volume a useful and captivating work of reference. It includes a listing of colours available to the constructor of the kit, and a concise listing of currently available accessories. The exciting planes featured include the ‘Butcher Bird’ Focke- Wulf Fw 190F-8, three types of Junkers Ju - the Anton, the 88 and the Racher - and three types of Messerschmitt - the Gustav, the Hornisse and the Komet in 1/48th Scale. A book to warm any modeller’s heart. 128 paperback pages 30cm by 21cm, lavishly illustrated in realistic colour with glossary and two appendices: Colour Guide and Accessories, Conversions and Decals. £9.99 NOW £5


offer in the hall, stance and torso position, the bridge hand and the back hand, the stroke, aiming, cue ball control, moving the cue ball around the table, how to break up clusters of balls to your advantage and when not to and much more. Clear colour table. 210pp softback.


£12.95 NOW £2.50


72063 THE RIDING HANDBOOK: The Complete Guide to


Riding Horses by Zoe St Aubyn Riding can be started at any age and very easily offer a lifetime of enjoyment. Packed with colour photos and


diagrams, learn the quick release knot in the general handling and getting to know section, an A-Z of bits, riding clothes, basic rider fitness, common problems, the gallop, turning and circles, practice drills,


vaccinations, a holistic approach, improving transitions, dressage, racing, breed A-Z and a glossary of terms in this complete guide to riding horses and ponies. 350 colour photos, 192pp in quality softback.


$19.95 NOW £4.50


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