Reviews (4)

Not to be missed
This book was extremely informative and I would recommend it highly for any scotch whisky aficionado.The book allows you to create a vivid mental picture of how old distilleries must have been, plus the illustrations are great.Scotch Missed will further your knowledge on the history of this fascinating industry.

Beggin' yer pardon, m'Lord, but....
....when did Brian Townsend change his name to Michael Jackson?Is it possible that "magellan359" got a wee bit off course from one wee dram too many?Other than that, it's an ok review except for the fact that it's more about him than about the book, not what one would expect from one of Amazon's "top" reviewers.Oh, well...

Some nice history
Many of Scotland's distilleries had closed in recent (and not-so-recent) decades, and I thought I'd mention some of my favorites, which Townsend discusses in his book.Read more

Subjects:  1. Beverages - Wine & Spirits    2. Distilleries    3. Europe - Great Britain - General    4. Europe - Gt. Britain/Scotland    5. General    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Scotland    10. Whiskey industry    11. Food manufacturing & related industries    12. Spirits & cocktails   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (2)

Infotainment for kids
1.I couldn't stand the writing style: like an over-enthusiastic schoolteacher performing to a group of children - seems to have been written for kids, perhaps at an early secondary school level.Tedious explanations of human behaviours I think most adults would already have an understanding of.
Fascinating tour
Alistair Moffat has produced an excellent introduction to Scottish prehistory. Moffat reviews the archeology and history of Scotland from roughly 11,000 years ago until the beginning of the Middle Ages. He is at his best when he examines the archeological evidence and what it tells us about how these early inhabitants lived--what their homes were like, what they ate, how they obtained their food, the material culture they produced, and what we can guess about their religious practices. Many of the descriptions of actual historical events (with the exception of the Roman period) are covered in too little detail to be satisfying.
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Subjects:  1. Antiquities    2. Archaeology    3. Europe - Great Britain - Scotland    4. History    5. History - General History    6. Prehistoric peoples    7. Scotland    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. To 1057    11. Western Europe - General    12. British & Irish history   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. History - General    3. History Of Architecture    4. International Architecture - British    5. Scotland   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. Europe - Great Britain - General    2. Europe - Great Britain - Scotland    3. History    4. History - General History    5. Miscellanea    6. Scotland    7. Scotland - History    8. Travel    9. British & Irish history    10. FOLKLORE_SCOTLAND    11. Myths & mythology    12. SCOTLAND_HISTORY    13. Social Science / Folklore & Mythology    14. Travel / General   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Great Britain - General    2. Europe - Great Britain - Scotland    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Mull, Island of (Scotland)    7. Social life and customs    8. British & Irish history    9. Central Scotland    10. Social history    11. Western Isles, Outer Hebrides   

Reviews (3)

Great photos, great writing, great book
This is history not only of the Scottish people but also of the land itself.It starts with an examination of the natural forces that shaped Scotland into the land it is today.From ice age carved valleys to the incredible natural stone columns at Fingal's Cave it is a land of contrasts.After examining the land the author turns to the most remote ancestral people of Scotland and the curious stone circles and other artifacts they left behind.Moving forward in time they next examine the arrival of various more modern historical groups including the Celts, the Roman invaders, the Gaels, Picts, Britons, Angles, Vikings, and Normans.
Excellent combination of coffee table book and solid history
There's much more to Scotland than whisky, tartan, and kilts.This book looks at Scotland's history - from early pre-history and mysterious stone circles similar to Stonehenge, up to the present day and the new parliament building, still under construction. Of special interest and value for the novice student
For the non-specialist general reader, the history of the land of Robert Burns, Scotch whisky, and Queen Mary has never been so well done as with the Oyster Press edition of The Illustrated History Of Scotland by Chris Tabraham (Principal Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Historic Scotland). The informed and informative text is superbly illustrated throughout with the professional photography of Colin Baxter. Of special interest and value for the novice student of Scottish history is extensive "Chronology" appendix that begins in 2,800,000,000 BC with the stones of Scotland's original formation near the South Pole, and then proceeds upward to the Second Elections to the Scottish Parliament of 2003 AD. No personal, professional, academic, or community library World History collection can be considered complete without the inclusion of Chris Tabraham's The Illustrated History Of Scotland! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Great Britain - Scotland    2. General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Pictorial works    7. Scotland    8. Western Europe - General   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Anthropology - General    3. Archaeology / Anthropology    4. Ethnic Studies - General    5. Ethnic identity    6. History    7. North America    8. Popular Culture - General    9. Scots    10. Social Science    11. Social life and customs    12. Sociology    13. United States - General    14. Ethnic studies    15. Scotland    16. Social Science / Popular Culture    17. USA   

Subjects:  1. Genealogy    2. History    3. History: World    4. Reference    5. Social History    6. Cultural Region/British Isles    7. Reference / Genealogy    8. Scotland   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Great Britain - General    2. Europe - Great Britain - Scotland    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Medieval    7. Scotland    8. To 1603    9. British & Irish history: c 1000 to c 1500    10. Language Arts & Disciplines / Journalism    11. c 1000 CE to c 1500   

Reviews (4)

Great Book
This is an interesting and well written guidebook. It was mentioned on NPR I think once and it was well deserved. Finally a guidebook for active but not agile among us. A must have for any trip to Scotland.

An expressive, and readable Scottish Highlands guide
The Creaky Traveler In The North West Highlands Of Scotland by experienced world traveler Warren Rovetch is a personal memoir and engaging travelogue of Britain's coastal wilderness. Penned with insight, charm, and vibrant impressions of culture, natural beauty, and the unique feel of the land itself, The Creaky Traveler is a very highly recommended, expressive, and readable Scottish Highlands guide for vacationers and armchair travelers alike.

Good little guide.....
THE CREAKY TRAVELER provides an amazing amount of detail (including maps) about a small part of the northwest highlands of Scotland. Mr Rovetch has a friendly and somewhat avuncular writing style which verges on the pedantic at times. He obviously kept a diary of his travels from which this text has been extracted (the minutia could only be recorded not remembered).I found some of the detail annoying for "armchair travel" but useful for objectively planning road travel in remote Scotland.After using it to plan a trip,THE CREAKY TRAVELER is the sort of book one reads a chapter a night on the road to scope out the next day's adventures. Read more

Subjects:  1. Description and travel    2. Essays & Travelogues    3. Europe - Great Britain - General    4. Europe - Gt. Britain/Scotland    5. Highlands    6. Highlands (Scotland)    7. Rovetch, Warren    8. Scotland    9. Travel    10. Travel - Foreign    11. Europe    12. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    13. Literary studies: general    14. TRAVEL & HOLIDAY    15. Travel / General    16. United Kingdom, Great Britain   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (2)

Great book and a great artist that critics love to hate
In 1989, or was it 1990, I stood in the Scottish Academy's "Open" show in Edinborough and marvelled at the work of an unknown Scottish miner's work named Jack Vettriano - Dammit I wish I'd had the 300 pounds to afford that wonderful painting. This is a book that shows a romantic at heart with the courage to paint what he feels regardless of modern day art critics who have failed to realize that their written word no longer carries any weight in the world of art. Vettriano is a romantic Hopper, but better - he stylizes, preaches, decorates, creates and delivers wondrous works that remind us why we love painting and painters who ignore critics and fashion and trends and paint what they want to paint. This is a success story from the very dark depths of the public's ability to make superstars in art that give art critic stomach acid for centuries to come - when their names are forgotten, Vettriano's dismissed artwork will still be colelcted, sought-after and admired. Keep them cookin' jack!

Not so innocent
While I am quite a fan of Vettriano's work, most of the painting I've seen displayed on the Portland Gallery's website were of the type as "The Singing Butler." The paintings in "Lovers and Other Strangers" are not all so innocent.While they are all wonderful compostions I wasn't expecting the highly sexual nature of the pieces. (Perhaps I should have from the title.) There are several of his in this book of the type I enjoy such as "After Midnight" and "Winter Light and Lavender" I am not such a fan of Quinn's choices.While it gives a broad view of Vettriano's work you might not enjoy it if your favorite pieces are "Singing Butler" and "Mad Dogs."I do like the composition of all the pieces as well as the use of color I was not always taken with the choice of models.If you, like myself, enjoy Vettriano's work that are character studies of average people you might not care for the sexually charged nature of most of the pieces in this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. General    4. ART, SCOTTISH    5. Art / History / European    6. Art styles: c 1960 -    7. Biography: general    8. Individual artists    9. PAINTING, BRITISH    10. Painting & paintings    11. Scotland   

Subjects:  1. 1936-1968    2. Automobile racing drivers    3. Automotive - General    4. Automotive - History    5. Biography    6. Clark, Jim,    7. Lotus 25 automobile    8. Scotland    9. Transportation    10. Biography: sport    11. Car racing    12. Transportation / Automotive / General   

Reviews (2)

More great Victorian fonts
Although the title doesn't mention Victorian, most of these designs originate in that era. They have influences other than the typical complex Victorian fonts. But they can be effectively be used with fonts from the other Dover title "Victorian Display Fonts". Well drawn, Mac and Windows, Postscript and Truetype...and what a GREAT price!

Partly as it says�
This is an excellent collection of 24 fonts, with printed examples and indices of the special characters for Macintosh (access to Windows special characters is described in the ReadMe file). They represent a fine collection of Baroque and Gothic lettering, but very little of the material could really be called truly Celtic. Any church could spice up its documents for special occasions with this collection. The `sz' of German formal text appears in a variety of forms. Also present are many other accented letters used in various European languages but not always included in more current fonts. Try it! Use it! There is creative material here! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Clip Art    3. Computers - General Information    4. Desktop Publishing - General    5. Typography    6. Computer graphics software    7. History / Ireland    8. Lettering & calligraphy    9. Scotland   

Reviews (4)

A Comyn view of 13th Century Scotland
History is written by the victors and the Comyns were anything but by 1314, and this shows particularly withJohn, The Red, Comyn, Lord of Badenoch is murdered by Robert the Bruce for his "Treachery" which led to Bruce claiming the throne and freeing Scotland from English rule.Well maybe....Mr. Alan's Book gives a more balanced view of that event and the role the Comyn's have played in Scottish history.We learn that the Comyn's came north with David the First.William Comin became his Chancellor of Scotland.His nephew Richard married Hextilda, Granddaughter of King Donald Ban of Scotland and became Justicular of Lothian.Then his son William became the first Norman descent Earl in Scotland when he married the heiress of the Earl of Buchan.From him descends the two main branches of the Buchan Comyns and Badenoch Comyns (from his first marriage).Walter Comyn, Earl of Mentieth had a huge impact on Scottish history and was a guardian of the Realm for Alexander III.Then we see the impacts of the further Lords of Badenoch and Earls of Buchan which leads up to the competition for the crown and ultimate murder of the Red John.We see that the Comyns were very patriotic and protective of their clan.More so it seems than the Bruce family.Both the Red John and Bruce were back and forth with Edward I and the English.Robert the Bruce gained the throne by removing the Red John.History may have been very different had the Red John lived.We may never know.Ultimately the Comyns were all but eradicated from Scotland by the Bruce and the heirs to the great branches of the Comyn met thier end at the battle of Bannockburn.They were with the English not because there love of Edward but because of their hatred of the Bruce.Comyns supported Scotland and helped make it great through the Generations and today's Clan Cumming (Comyns) should be proud of that past.A fantastic book which presents a lot of fact hidden by myth and distorted by history and the writers.

An interesting case study of powerful families in medieval history.
At the outset, I'll admit that I am of Cumings stock, so I had alterior motives for reading this book.Although I enjoyed the book as insight to old clan history, I was also pleasantly surprised by the book in terms of its fresh perspective on medieval history.I am a recent history graduate, and as such I enjoyed Young's book as a unique view of history.
Interesting Only if You are of Comyn Descent
I bought this book to understand the history leading up to Robert the Bruce's murder of his rival, John Comyn, in Greyfriars' Church in Dumfries, Scotland in February 1306.No one knows why Robert Bruce called Comyn to a meeting or what set off the argument that ended when Bruce stabbed Comyn with a dagger.All they know, is that less than six weeks later, Bruce managed to get himself declared king and set about destroying the Comyns, who where the most powerful family in Scotland during the thirteenth century and in the fourteen century before Bruce squashed them.I was hoping this book would tell me about the personalities, what led to the rivalry, and why Bruce ultimately prevailed against a much stronger opponent.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Europe - Ireland    3. General    4. History    5. History: World    6. Medieval    7. Biography: historical    8. British & Irish history: c 1000 to c 1500    9. Contemporaries    10. Cummings family    11. Robert    12. Scotland    13. c 1000 CE to c 1500   

Reviews (1)

4 STAR BOOK
I found this book a good source of knoledge put together from several other accounts.I have found that every author has a slightly diffrent account of the legand of William Wallace.This book puts those accounts together in a way that it gets the facts and legands to the reader in a fairly non-predjudice manor. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Historical - British    5. Royalty    6. Historical figures    7. Rebels, revolutionaries, terrorists, freedom fighters    8. Scotland    9. c 1000 CE to c 1500   

Subjects:  1. 1720-1788    2. Charles Edward,    3. Europe - Great Britain - General    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Jacobite Rebellion, 1745-1746    7. Jacobites    8. Prince, grandson of James II,    9. Prince, grandson of James II, King of England,    10. Scotland    11. British & Irish history: c 1700 to c 1900    12. Charles Edward    13. c 1700 to c 1800   

Subjects:  1. British & Irish history: c 1700 to c 1900    2. Economic history    3. Local history    4. Scotland    5. Social history   

Subjects:  1. Clans    2. Clans and clan system    3. Great Britain - History    4. Highlands    5. Highlands (Scotland)    6. History    7. History: American    8. Scotland   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. History    3. Institutions & Organizations    4. Religion - Classic Works    5. Scots-Irish    6. Shenandoah River Valley (Va. a    7. Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.)    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. Immigration & emigration    11. Ireland    12. Scotland    13. USA   

Reviews (1)

Not as complete as I had hoped
Full page color plates of some of the most common tartans, but the book is not as complete as I was looking for.The plates are not as crisp as they could be, and the color quality is off.Altogether, a good introduction to the common tartans, but not the definitive guide the title suggests. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Art    3. Clans    4. Europe - Great Britain - General    5. Genealogy    6. General    7. Scotland    8. Tartans    9. Techniques - General    10. Textile Fabrics    11. Heraldry    12. History / Great Britain