"In this beautiful book, five Scottish writers explore and share their thoughts about twenty-five buildings found in Scotland. "
What a lovely book this is! Five well-known writers take you on a journey through their homeland of Scotland, focusing on twenty-five of the buildings that can be found there. The introduction explains that: “What we build always reveals things that are deeply and innately human. Because all buildings are stories, one way or another”. Then goes to say: “This book, then, is an account of twenty-five individual journeys, which come together to form a narrative of a nation”. Vivid black and white, and colour photos sit within the pages. We visit buildings spread through time and place, from the evocative Geldie Burn, 8000 BC, to the contemporary and emotionally connective Maggie’s Centres. Some places you may already find you are intimate with, while others, you’ll potentially meet for the first time. Thirty years ago I spent a day at Stirling Castle, where now, James Crawford on describing the new - old roof of Stirling Castle’s Great Hall says: “When it comes to buildings, ‘restoration’ is a loaded word. It provokes. It asks questions - and often gives answers that we may not like or want to hear. It pulls at the threads of our history, culture, politics, community and identity. It is, in the broadest sense, unsettling”. I found myself wanting to revisit, to fall into the space of the ceiling and spend time there. That is what each writer does, they encourage you to see with new eyes, to join them and experience their viewpoints. It is therefore incredible personal and inviting, hence this book joins our LoveReading Star Books. Who Built Scotland showcases the country, the people, the history, the bones of the place, it’s fascinating and moving, and comes as highly recommended by our team.
| Primary Genre | Travel |
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Experience a new history of Scotland told through its places. Writers Kathleen Jamie, Alexander McCall Smith, Alistair Moffat, James Robertson and James Crawford pick twenty-five buildings to tell the story of the nation.
Travelling across the country, from abandoned islands and lonely glens to the heart of our modern cities, these five authors seek out the diverse narrative of the Scottish people. Follow Kathleen Jamie as she searches for the traces of our first family hearths in the Cairngorms and makes a midsummer journey to Shetland to meet the unlikely new inhabitants of an Iron Age broch. Tour the wondrous and macabre Surgeons' Hall with Alexander McCall Smith, or walk with him over sacred ground to Iona's ancient Abbey. Join Alistair Moffat as he discovers a lost whisky village in the wilds of Strathconon, and climbs up through the vertiginous layers of history in Edinburgh Castle. Accompany James Robertson as he goes from the standing stones of Callanish to the humble cottage of Hugh MacDiarmid - via the engineering colossus of the Forth Rail Bridge. And journey with James Crawford from a packed crowd in Hampden Park, to an off -the-grid eco-bothy on the Isle of Eigg.
Who Built Scotland is a landmark exploration of Scotland's social, political and cultural histories. Moving from Neolithic families, exiled hermits and ambitious royal dynasties to highland sheiling girls, peasant poets, Enlightenment philosophers and iconoclastic artists, it places our people, our ideas and our passions at the heart of our architecture and archaeology. This is the remarkable story how we have shaped our buildings and how our buildings, in turn, have shaped us.
Who Built Scotland features in the following genres: Non-Fiction Books of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, Gift Books, History, Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure, Travel, Travel writing, Social and cultural history, History and Archaeology, History: specific events and topics, Social and cultural history, Travel writing
Who Built Scotland is available in Paperback, Hardback
Who Built Scotland was written by Alexander McCall Smith, Alistair Moffat, James Crawford, James Robertson, Kathleen Jamie and published by Historic Environment Scotland
Who Built Scotland has 336 pages
£18.00
