Reportage Scotland

About the Book: 

Events – both major and minor – as seen and recorded by Scots throughout history.

Which king was murdered in a sewer?
What was Dr Fian’s love magic?
Which cardinal was salted and put in a barrel?
Why did Lord Kitchener’s niece try to blow up Burns’s cottage?

The answers can all be found in this eclectic mix covering nearly 2000 years of Scottish history. Historian Louise Yeoman’s rummage through the manuscript, book and newspaper archives of the National Library of Scotland has yielded an astonishing range of material, from a letter to the King of the Picts to Mary Queen of Scots’ own account of the murder of David Riccio; from the execution of William Wallace to accounts of anti-poll tax actions and the opening of the new Scottish Parliament.

Reviews:

A wonderfully readable book telling ‘the story of Scotland’ through the eyes, prose and Gaelic verse of a succession of biased, axe grinding and sometimes barely articulate witnesses. I find this almost intolerably moving. Yet many extracts made me laugh aloud. ANGUS CALDER, Scotland on Sunday

Her aim was ‘not to produce a serious chronological history but to give a flavour of events and the people who reported them’; and in this she has certainly succeeded. Whether read from cover to cover or dipped into, Reportage Scotland will fascinate anyone with even a mild interest in the life of our nation. ANGELA CRAN, Caledonia 

About the Author:

DR LOUISE YEOMAN is a historian specialising in Scottish history. She completed a PhD at the University of St Andrews on the subject of the covenantors and worked as manuscripts curator at the National Library of Scotland before becoming a producer and presenter on BBC Radio Scotland.