'Every Scot should read it. Scotland now has the lively, provocative and positive history it deserves.' Irvine Welsh, Guardian A dramatic and intriguing history of how Scotland produced the institutions, beliefs and human character that have made the West into the most powerful culture in the world.

The Victorian poet William McGonagall was known as the greatest bad verse writer of his age, but was sustained throughout his career by a belief in his own genius. Unrecognized in his lifetime, he now has many thousands of admirers around the world.

A concise Scots dictionary.

Focusing on the contemporary Scottish culture, this book is a useful reading for those who care about their country's identity in the twenty-first century. It is a history of how the Scots have come to speak the way they do and it acted as a catalyst for radical changes in attitude towards the language.

This collection of pearls of wisdom contains those sayings which only Scots grannies seem able to utter. Subtitles for those in need of an English version accompany each saying.