The man inside of this crepuscular husk is being methodically erased. Yet the rudiments are still glinting behind the frozen veneer of an impenetrable death mask.Memories from the End of the World focuses on the present condition and past life of a mysterious, seemingly nameless man. Trapped within the confines of his deathbed, the protagonist’s former existence is played out in incremental impressions from his childhood, through adolescence into ...

The autobiography of a Scottish professor, army chaplain, World War II veteran, and prisoner of war.From a croft in the Hebridean island of Harris to the grim confines of the Nazis' notorious prisoner-of-war camp Stalag Luft III and the hallowed of Glasgow University, the life of Murdo Ewen Macdonald was one of extraordinary variety and richness. Macdonald was ordained as a Church of Scotland minister in 1939 and joined the military in 1940. After volunteering in th...

‘He held the detached tooth in front of his face. It was white and cracked, with roots dangling beneath, festering in gore… then he placed the tooth back into his mouth and rolled it around, before swallowing it whole.’The Painter awakes naked and injured. Where are his clothes, what is his name, and, more importantly, why is the chair talking to him?So begins The Painter’s disquieting journey into the heart of darkness at the centre of the contemp...

‘He held the detached tooth in front of his face. It was white and cracked, with roots dangling beneath, festering in gore… then he placed the tooth back into his mouth and rolled it around, before swallowing it whole.’The Painter awakes naked and injured. Where are his clothes, what is his name, and, more importantly, why is the chair talking to him?So begins The Painter’s disquieting journey into the heart of darkness at the centre of the contemp...

The prize-winning memoir: "an enlightening walk through a life that encompasses West Africa…rent strikes, the divided self and the question of grace" ( Scotland on Sunday, UK).An international bestseller and winner of the PEN/Ackerley Prize, Ricard Holloway's candid memoir "is many things. It is a compelling account of a journey through life, told with great frankness; it is a subtle reflection on what it means to live in an imperfect and puzzling world; an...

The acclaimed author of On Royalty explores the mysteries of English identity in this "witty, argumentative book bursting with good things" ( The Daily Telegraph).A Sunday Times Top Ten BestsellerBeing English used to be easy. As the dominant culture in a country that dominated an empire that dominated the world, they had little need to examine themselves and ask who they were. But something has happened over the past cent...

'Few cities,' Jan Morris observes, 'have been much more loved, loathed, and celebrated.' This book has become a classic account of the character, history, mores, buildings, climate, and people of one of Britain's most fascinating cities. 'A book of outstanding excellence, with a sweep of knowledge and a distinction of style such as I have never before encountered in a work of this sort ... Brilliant alike in observation and imagination ... brings the very stones of Oxford to life' Sunday T...

The story of the World War 2 de-coders of Bletchley Park continues to fascinate.How did Mair Thomas, a musician brought up in the Welsh valleys, find herself in the rarefied atmosphere of Hut Six, surrounded by hundreds of others, all desperately trying to break the German Enigma Code?Sworn to secrecy and working in cramped and uncomfortable conditions, Mair discovered her degree in German and Music was just what was needed. Drawn from the public schools an...

Heart of Glasgow is still regarded as THE quintessential book on Glasgow. It stays strictly within the bounds of what has always been referred to as 'the City', that is the area resembling a cross and consisting of the High Street from as far north as the cathedral down to Bridgegate on the Clyde with the east-west thoroughfare stretching accross the High Street through the Trongate and down what was to become Argyle Street. Here, and in the surrounding closes, courts, backlands, feus and ...

From the simplest slab of weathered stone to the most imposing monument, every marker in Glasnevin cemetery bears witness to a life that, in ways small or large, helped shape the history and culture of the Irish state. Shane MacThomáis offers a fascinating insight into some of these lives in this book. Within its pages, you'll meet not only the heroes of the Irish fight for freedom, like Michael Collins and Éamon de Valera, but also lesser-known Irish men and women who made important contr...

"An unflinching record of Scotland's greatest human disaster in modern history"—the Luftwaffe air raids on the industrial town of Clydebank during WWII ( The Herald).Vibrating with endeavors for Britain's effort against the might of Nazi Germany, Clydebank was—in hindsight—an obvious target for the attentions of the Luftwaffe. When, on the evening of 13 March 1941, the authorities first detected that Clydebank was "on beam"—targeted by the primitive radio-g...

'It is tremendously good fun winding up the Scots. It is terribly easy, particularly Scottish politicians. They can take things far too seriously.' Jeremy Paxman*It's 700 years since England fought Scotland at the Battle of Bannockburn. Miraculously - we still don't understand how - the Scots actually won. It's pretty much the only time they've ever beaten us at anything. So has there ever been a better opportunity to celebrate seven centuries of w...