In a statement made in 1939 about what role the Soviet Union might play in The Second World War Winston Churchill said : “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, but perhaps there is a key”. Eighty five years later the Western world […]
Russia: A History edited by Gregory L. Freeze Read More »
In 2002 Sarah Waters (Sarah Waters | Hachette UK) offered us Fingersmith, a neo-Victorian novel. The setting is London, 1862. Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, grows up among petty thieves – ‘fingersmiths’ – under the rough but loving care of Mrs Sucksby and her ‘family’. But from the moment she draws breath, Sue’s fate is
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters Read More »
Ann Wroe (Ann Wroe – Economist) is an English author and columnist who has been the obituaries editor of The Economist since 2003. Her non-fiction books include biographies of Pontius Pilate, Percy Shelley and Perkin Warbeck. Lifescapes is a dazzlingly original blend of memoir, biography, observation and poetry. Wroe reflects on the art and impossibility of fully capturing
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Jim Ness, a local historian and archaeologist in Biggar, has produced a fine historical guide to the Clydesdale town. Packed with detail and historical photographs this book reveals the architectural development of the High Street and refers to many of the characters and business owners who have populated the town throughout the decades stretching back
Historical Guide to Biggar High Street by Jim Ness Read More »
George Monbiot (George Monbiot) is a British journalist, author, environmental and political activist. He writes a regular column for The Guardian. Peter Hutchison is a critically acclaimed filmmaker, New York Times bestselling author, educator and activist. In this book the authors argue that we live under an ideology that dominates every aspect of our lives: our education and our
The Invisible Doctrine by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison Read More »
James Robertson (A life in writing: James Robertson | Books | The Guardian) has a special connection to Clydesdale. From 1993 to 1995 he was the first writer in residence at Hugh MacDiarmid’s house at Brownsbank, Candymill near Biggar. Robertson has gone on to publish several novels, short stories and poetry collections. He was born in Sevenoaks, Kent
And the Land Lay Still by James Robertson Read More »
Philip Miller (PHILIP MILLER | Writer and Poet (philipmillerbooks.com)) is a writer and poet living in Edinburgh. He was an award-winning arts journalist for 20 years, and his published novels include The Goldenacre (2022), All The Galaxies (2017) and The Blue Horse (2015). His poetry has been published in print and online, and he received a RL Stevenson Fellowship in 2019.
The Hollow Tree by Philip Miller Read More »
Tom Holland (Tom Holland – About | Hachette UK (tom-holland.org)) is an award-winning historian, biographer and broadcaster. He is the author of Rubicon: The Triumph and the Tragedy of the Roman Republic (2003), which won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize; Persian Fire (2005), his history of the Graeco-Persian wars,
Dominion by Tom Holland Read More »
Winfried Georg Sebald (18 May 1944 – 14 December 2001) (WG Sebald | Books | The Guardian), known as W. G. Sebald was a German writer and academic. After study in Germany he held academic posts in Manchester and The University of East Anglia. His literary output includes celebrated works such as ‘The Emigrants’ (1992), ‘The Rings
Speak, Silence: In Search of W.G. Sebald by Carole Angier Read More »
