Reviews
A Scottish family bus business that grew and fell
The McKindless Group by David Devoy is the story of a family business which got out of its depth. The McKindless bus company started off as a small operation of a few buses, a lorry and two coaches in 1987. After providing mostly school contracts and private hires, the company began to venture into local…
Read MoreThe rise and sad fall of the Strathtay Bus Group
Strathtay Scottish Buses by David Devoy is an interesting tale of expansion, contraction, and ultimately the oblivion of the group. Strathtay Scottish was a product of the state-owned Scottish Bus Group’s attempts to prepare for deregulation and possible privatisation in the mid-1980s. Eventually, after being taken over by several different entities which culminated in the…
Read MoreAn educational history of Edinburgh’s Trams
The once controversial Edinburgh trams have now become part of the city’s furniture. In this informative guide featuring previously unpublished images of the city’s trams network, Kenneth Williamson charts the history of the system from the horse-drawn trams which ran from Haymarket to Leith in 1871, to the first electric trams which started to operate…
Read MoreScottish history – without the boring bits
Presented as a chronicle of the curious, the eccentric, the atrocious and the unlikely, Scottish History Without the Boring Bits is a unique historical account of Scotland’s past offers a colourful melange of the episodes and characters that have spattered the pages of our nation’s story. From the War of the One-Eyed Woman to the…
Read MoreScotland’s chocolate features in new guidebook
When asked about Britain’s chocolate output, you would be forgiven if you immediately thought of chocolate bars wrapped in iconic purple packaging, the compulsory Christmas selection boxes, or the legendary chocolate orange. However, Andrew Baker’s ‘A Chocolate Lover’s Guide to Britain’ reveals that the British chocolate industry is so much more than these much-loved, mass…
Read MoreYou can’t go wrong with the definitive guide to Elgin
Jenny Main has written the definitive, fully-illustrated A-Z guide of Elgin’s history, people and places. Elgin has a wealth of history which is explored in Jenny Main’s A-Z Guide of the town. The last of the Pictish kings – Macbeth – ruled this area, with his rival, Duncan, dying of his battle wounds in the…
Read MoreA look at Stirling through its beautiful buildings
Stirling may be Scotland’s smallest city, but after being granted city status during the Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002, its history and heritage have begun to be fully appreciated. Jack Gillon takes the reader on a tour of 50 of Stirling’s finest buildings and structures, celebrating the city’s immense architectural heritage and ancient character. With…
Read MoreSee Them Run is a fascinating start for Scots detective
Fast–paced with a unique sense of place, See Them Run by Marion Todd is the debut novel in what is set to be a gripping series introducing detective DI Clare Mackay. The Scottish crime fiction market may seem saturated with much of the same run-of-the mill content, but Marion Todd’s welcome addition to the genre…
Read MoreTake a trip through the streets of Lost Edinburgh
Lost Edinburgh by Liz Hanson is a beautifully illustrated and informative exploration of our capital’s lost landscape. Like many British cities, the metropolis of Edinburgh has experienced multiple metamorphoses over the years. Although a walk down today’s Royal Mile may give the wanderer a tantalising taste of what existed before, in reality, many historic buildings…
Read MoreA gardener’s guide to growing in Scotland
With its maritime climate, ample rainfall and rarity of really hot weather, Scotland is one of the best places in the world to garden. But choosing plants suited to the local conditions is critical. Kenneth Cox and Raoul Curtis-Machin evaluated the performance of thousands of plants in gardens all over Scotland, drawing on the knowledge…
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