Luath Autumn/Winter 2020 Catalogue

Luath Press
committed to publishing well written books worth reading
Autumn/Winter 2020
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2
ISBN
Format
Size
Extent
Price
Edition
Illustrations
Rights
Author
October 2020
9781910022146
Hardback
198x135mm
160pp
£12.00
1st
Line throughout
World
Janey Godley,
is a stand-up
comedian. In 2016,
she came to viral
internet fame – or
infamy – with her
Trump is a C**t
stunt at Turnberry.
She has had over
50 million online hits for her
iconic voiceover videos, while her
weekly podcasts get over 40,000
hits worldwide.
Frank Get The Door!
ma feet are KILLIN me
Janey Godley
Illustrated by Christina Connelly
‘Frank, get the door! [is] surely the new
national catchphrase of these troubled
times’ – The Scotsman
‘A f***ing great comedian’ – Billy
Connolly
‘Some of the sharpest-elbowed comedy
in the world’ – New York Times
‘She’s no funny. She doesnae gie me
chicken’
– Honey the Dog
‘Since lockdown began, people have
woken up to Janey Godley’s comedy by
the hundreds of thousands… [She] has
provided muchneeded relief throughout
the coronavirus pandemic with her gallus
Glesga interpretations which have been
shared around the country with much
glee.’ – Daily Record
About
To many, Janey Godley’s voiceovers
have been a saving grace during
lockdown providing much needed
entertainment as well as forthright
guidance on what to do (and what not
to do). Frank Get The Door! collects
some of Godley’s finest moments as
she ventriloquises the First Minister,
her podium companions and the
press. This is an essential for fans of
Godley and the perfect stocking filler
this Christmas.

3

4
ISBN
November 2020
Format
Size
Extent
Price
Edition
Illustrations
Translator
9781910022177 | Scots
9781910022184 | Gaelic
Hardback
215x165mm
128pp
£16.99
1st
Illustrations throughout
Matthew Fitt
was born in
Dundee in 1968.
He graduated
from Edinburgh
University in 1990
and, between
1995 and 1997,
held the Brownsbank Fellowship,
residing alongside ghosts and
wallydugs at the former home
of Hugh MacDiarmid. Author of
the scandalous ‘Kate O’Shanter’s
Tale’, his poetry and short stories
have been published widely. His
first novel, But n Ben A-Go-Go
was selected as one of the Best
Scottish Books of All Time.
The Laddie, the
Mowdie, the Tod and
the Cuddie
Charlie Mackesy
Translation by Matthew Fitt
‘The warld I hae tae bide in is this ane,
but the warld I grein tae stey in is the
ane charlie mackesy has wrocht.’
– Elizabeth Gilbert
‘Love, freendship and kindness –
this buik spikks a universal leid.’
– Bear Grylls
‘A wunnerfu wark o ert and
a wunnerfu windae intae the
human hert.’ – Richard Curtis
‘Simply, the warld needs Charlie’s
wark richt noo.’ – Miranda Hart
About
This is a brilliant and creative rendition
of The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The
Horse by Charlie Mackesy translated
into Scots by Matthew Fitt. Matthew
has previously translated titles such as
Harry Potter and Philosopher’s Stone and
various Roald Dahl and David Walliams
titles. We will also publish a Gaelic
translation by Johan Nic a’ Ghobhainn at
the same time.
Cover for the Gaelic edition

5

6
November 2020
ISBN
Format
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Extent
Price
Edition
Illustrations
Author
9781910022054
Hardback
234x156mm
328pp
£20.00
1st
8pp B/W photographs
Brian Beacom
maintains that the
stress produced
while working
with The Herald
for the past 30
years (during
which time he
picked up several
Arts Writer of the Year awards),
while writing several showbiz
biographies (including a Sunday
Times bestseller – The Real Mrs.
Brown), and even when coming
up with a weekly column, has
never created anything like the
anxiety endured while appearing
in panto, as Buttons, in the
Glasgow Pavilion production of
Cinderella.
The Real
Stanley Baxter
Brian Beacom
‘Stanley Baxter is my comedy hero.
He had big ideas and he fought for the
money to do them. Then when he’d had
enough he just walked away.’
– ALAN CUMMING
‘I don’t know anybody that doesn’t think
Stanley Baxter is a genius.’
– JONATHAN ROSS
‘I really don’t think the phrase ‘out of
this world’ fits anyone better than it does
Stanley Baxter.’ – FORD KIERNAN
About
Stanley Baxter delighted over 20
million viewers at a time with his
television specials. His pantos became
legendary. His divas and dames
were so good they were beyond
description.
Baxter was a most brilliant cowboy
Coward, a smouldering Dietrich. He
found immense laughs as Formby and
Liberace. And his sex-starved Tarzan
swung in a way Hollywood could
never have imagined. But who is the
real Stanley Baxter?
The comedy actor’s talents are
matched only by his past reluctance
to colour in the detail of his own
character. Now, the man behind the
mischievous grin, the twinkling eyes
and the once-Brylcreemed coiffure is
revealed.
In a tale of triumphs and tragedies,
of giant laughs and great falls from
grace, we discover that while the
enigmatic entertainer could play host
to hundreds of different voices, the
role he found most difficult to play
was that of Stanley Baxter.

7

8
Huts
a place beyond – How to end our exile
from nature
Lesley Riddoch
‘…a clarion call for a revolution in the
way that we understand home, leisure
and our relationship with the natural
world’ – Guardian
‘Lesley Riddoch uses her new book to
explain why our country is perfect to find
a bolt hole away from the stresses and
strains of modern city life.’ – The Times
ISBN
Format
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Edition
Illustrations
Author
OUT NOW
9781913025632
Paperback
198x129mm
272pp
£9.99
1st
B/W Photographs
Lesley Riddoch is
an award-winning
broadcaster,
writer and
journalist. She
writes weekly
columns for the
Scotsman and
the National, and is a regular
contributor to the Guardian, BBC
Question Time, Scotland Tonight
and Any Questions.
‘A fascinating tale of why Scotland’s
history of recreational hut culture is
so far from the European norm. Lesley
brings a blend of academic rigour,
journalistic flair and entertaining storytelling
to this neglected topic and makes
a compelling case for a renaissance of the
Scottish hut’ – Andy Wightman, author of
The Poor Had No Lawyers
About
Victorian visitors had shooting lodges –
Scots had trips doon the watter.
Norwegian citizens had hytte – Scots had
Butlins.
Why have the inhabitants of one of
Europe’s prime tourist destinations been
elbowed off the land and exiled from
nature for so long?
Lesley Riddoch relives her own bothy
experience, rediscovers lost hutting
communities, travels through hyttecovered
Norway and suggests that
thousands of humble woodland huts
would give Scots a vital post-covid
connection with nature and affordable,
low-impact holidays in their own
beautiful land – at last.

Barnhill
A Novel
Norman Bissell
‘Bissell fills out and explores more
deeply the Orwell’s character and his
relationships with those around him.
It’s a very believable portrayal, digging
beneath the surface of a man who
could be awkward, opinionated and
intransigent in an attempt to see what
made him tick.’ – Herald
9
‘Norman Bissell… offers a highly
credible, fictionalised account of Orwell’s
last few years.’ – Ileach
ISBN
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Price
Edition
Illustrations
Author
October 2020
9781913025519
Paperback
198x129mm
256pp
£8.99
Paperback
N/A
Norman Bissell
became principal
teacher of history
at Braidhurst
High School in
Motherwell after
obtaining an MA
(Honours) degree
in philosophy and history from the
University of Glasgow. His first
poetry collection Slate, Sea and
Sky features poems written in his
native Glasgow and on the Isle
of Luing in Argyll, where he now
lives.
‘This partly factual and partly reimagined
account of George Orwell’s final years is
a surprisingly satisfying read… Barnhill is
certainly a good novel in itself. It is well
worth the time to read.’ – Morning Star
About
George Orwell left post-war London
for Barnhill, a remote farmhouse on
the Isle of Jura, to write what became
Nineteen Eighty-Four. He was driven by
a passionate desire to undermine the
enemies of democracy and make plain
the dangers of dictatorship, surveillance,
doublethink and censorship.
Barnhill tells the dramatic story of this
crucial period of Orwell’s life. Deeply
researched, it reveals the private man
behind the celebrated public figure – his
turbulent love life, his devotion to his
baby son and his declining health as
he struggled to deliver his dystopian
warning to the world.

10
Why Gardens Matter
Joanna Geyer-Kordesch
with Donald Smith
About
So many gardening books tell you what
to plant and where and when. But how
often do they tell you to just sit and
enjoy them? And when you do, you
can find yourself thinking of things in a
different way.
November 2020
ISBN
Format
Size
Extent
Price
Edition
Illustrations
Author
9781912147946
Hardback
200x138mm
200pp
£14.99
1st
Colour and line
Joanna Geyer-
Kordesch has
a distinguished
academic
career bridging
the disciplines
of history of
medicine and
cultural history as embodied in
our landscapes.
In this new book, Johanna Geyer-
Kordesch brings together a lifetime
of study and personal experience to
show the many ways in which gardens
matter to our modern society.
Reaching back through the centuries,
she explores how richly layered our
contemporary response to both
making and enjoying gardens has
become.
Why Gardens Matter provides a
unique insight into how the outdoors
can help us to find some calm in this
increasingly busy world.
With an exceptional academic career
in natural history and medicine,
writer Joanna Geyer-Kordesch found
‘reflection, consolation and healing’
in the soothing, healing powers of
gardens after suffering from a major
stroke. Sharing profound reflections
on how gardening has helped her
regenerate, Why Gardens Matter is as
enlightening as it is inspirational. With
contributions from Donald Smith, this
is a powerful plea for us to reflect
on our gardens and to acknowledge
the life-affirming values of our green
spaces in these COVID-restricted
times.

Why Men Win at Work
... and how we can make inequality
history
Gill Whitty-Collins
‘In the tradition of the most efficient
execs, Whitty-Collins sets out an almighty
set of recommendations.’
– Sunday Times Style
‘a provocative call to arms’ – Daily Mail
‘Gill Whitty-Collins is 2020’s driving
force in the fight against gender
discrimination’ – Hood Magazine
About
‘And then I saw it. And once I had seen
it, I saw it everywhere.’
11
ISBN
Format
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Price
Edition
Illustrations
Author
OUT NOW
9781913025625
Hardback
210x135mm
224pp
£14.99
1st
N/A
Gill Whitty-Collins
is well-known and
respected in the
business world
wand has a very
strong LinkedIn
network. She is
now a business
consultant and continues to
promote the book at relevant
gender equality focused events
across the world.
Why are men still winning at work?
If women have equal leadership
ability, why are they so underrepresented
at the top in business and
society?
Why are we still living in a man’s
world? And why do we accept it?
In this provocative book, Gill Whitty-
Collins looks beyond the facts and
figures on gender bias and uncovers
the invisible discrimination that
continues to sabotage us in the
workplace and limits our shared
success. Addressing both men and
women and pulling no punches, she
sets out the psychology of gender
diversity from the perspective of real
personal experience and shares her
powerful insights on how to tackle
the gender equality issue.

12
November 2020
ISBN
Format
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Price
Edition
Illustrations
Editors
9781910022153
Royal Paperback
234x156mm
304pp
£14.99
1st
N/A
Gerry Hassan is a
writer, researcher
and academic.
His primary focus
is politics in the
UK and Scotland,
about which
he has written
numerous books.
Scotland After the
Virus
Edited by Gerry Hassan &
Simon Barrow
‘This book is a timely and welcome tonic
for the dark times we are living through.’
– Elaine C. Smith, Actor and Campaigner
‘In the dark times, we need sparks of
light like this to show the way forward to
a brighter future.’
– Val McDermid, Author
About
Scotland After the Virus is a book
responding to Scotland’s experience
of the COVID pandemic and imagining
Scotland after the virus.
Edited by Gerry Hassan & Simon
Barrow who have previously
collaborated with A Nation Changed in
2017 and Scotland the Brave? in 2019,
this is their first book to include fiction
and poetry as well as nonfiction. The
book has sections covering politics,
wellbeing, equality, culture and more.
This book has several high profile
contributors including Kristin Innes,
author of Scabby Queen, Janette
Ayachi, winner of the 2019 Saltire
Poetry Book of the Year and Kapka
Kassabova, author of Saltire Scottish
Book of the Year winning Border.
This collection is sure to resonate
with readers across the country who
have turned to books throughout the
pandemic.
Simon Barrow is
Director of the
beliefs, ethics
and public policy
thinktank Ekklesia.
He has edited,
written and
contributed to a
wide range of books and journals.

13
A Basic Income
Pocketbook
Annie Miller
About
As we get to grips with the social and
economic aftereffects of the Covid-19
pandemic, Annie Miller, co-founder of
the Basic Income Research Group in
1984, presents the case for Universal
Basic Income. In her new books she
argues that the ‘pandemic […] has
presented the strongest case yet for
basic income schemes across the
world’.
ISBN
Format
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Edition
Illustrations
Author
Out Now
9781912147625
Paperback
198x128mm
240pp
£9.99
1st
N/A
Annie Miller
has dedicated
much of her time
and research to
Basic Income
(also known as
Citizen’s Income),
becoming an
expert in the field. As recently as
2014 Miller was a keynote speaker
at a round-table discussion in
the Scottish Parliament on Basic
Income. Miller lives in Edinburgh.
A Basic Income Pocketbook discusses
BI in the context of the UK, using
facts and figures from around
the country, but is applicable to a
worldwide audience. An informative
and comprehensive guide to an
increasingly important economic idea
this is of interest to anyone concerned
about the future of welfare. The book
has been rigorously researched, and
will thus appeal to academics and
policy makers as well.

14
100 Favourite Gaelic
Poems
Edited by Peter Mackay
& Jo MacDonald
Poems by Meg Bateman • Anna C. Frater
• Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir •
Somhairle MacGill-Eain/Sorley MacLean
• Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair
• aonghas macneacail • Ruaraidh
MacThòmais/Derick Thomson • Màiri
Mhòr nan Òran • Sìleas na Ceapaich •
Iseabail Ní Mheic Chailein • Uilleam Ros /
William Ross • and many many more
About
ISBN
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Edition
Illustrations
October 2020
9781913025656
9781910022078 | Large Print
Paperback
234x156mm
408pp
£14.99
1st
N/A
A collection of 100 favourite Gaelic
poems and songs, each in both Gaelic
and English – love poems and hymns,
sea ditties and war poems, lullabies and
elegies – many translated into English for
the first time. Selected by Peter Mackay
and Jo MacDonald, and including public
nominations, these poems give a multilayered
taste of the full richness of Gaelic
literature from the Middle Ages to the
present day.
Editors
Peter Mackay has
published widely
on contemporary
poetry,
particularly Irish
and Scottish
poetry. He
teaches in the School of English at
the University of St Andrews. He
is also a co-editor of The Light Blue
Book.
Jo MacDonald is a
native Gaelic speaker
from the island of
Lewis. During her career
– spent largely with
the BBC – she worked
mainly in factual and
education pro-gramming. Jo now
works as a freelance researcher, writer,
broadcaster and translator.

15
Revolution
A short sharp history of Scottish wind
power- and where it goes in the future
Todd Westbrook
About
Consider a world in which the kettle
goes on, the phone is 100 per cent, the
ev car is charged, the hospital lights are
shining, heavy industry is supplied with
electricity. All for essentially zero fuel
cost, with nothing going into the front
end of the pipe: no coal, no gas, no oil,
no uranium. And nothing out the back
end either: no particulates, no carbon,
no nuclear waste.
ISBN
Format
Size
Extent
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Edition
Illustrations
Author
October 2020
9781913025526
Royal Paperback
198x129mm
208pp
£9.99
1st
B/W images and
diagrams
Todd Westbrook
graduated from
the University of
Vermont in 1987
and the University
of Strathclyde
in 1993. He is
an experienced
writer, editor and reporter
with more than a million words
published to date. He has lived in
Scotland for many years. This is
Todd’s first book.
Having written for a decade and a half
on the renewable energy revolution,
Todd Westbrook here provides a view
of Scottish wind power of the past, the
present and the future and its potential
to revolutionise power production across
the world. Revolution takes readers on
a fascinating journey from the industry’s
origins in the 1950s to contemporary
developments, at the same time
providing insight from industry experts
and dispelling some of the common
myths and misconceptions associated
with wind power. In this climate
emergency, we must do anything we can
to lessen our environmental impact.
This is an accessible, inspirational
guide to how Scotland can and must
achieve change.

16
November 2020
ISBN
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9781912147618
Paperback
198x129mm
224pp
£8.99
Paperback
N/A
DOUGLAS WATT is
an historian, poet
and novelist. He is
the author of The
Price of Scotland:
Darien, Union
and the Wealth of
Nations (2007), a
well received history of the Darien
Disaster and Parliamentary Union
between Scotland and England,
which won the Hume Brown
Senior Prize in Scottish History in
2008.
A Killing in Van
Diemen’s Land
Douglas Watt
Praise for The Unnatural Death of a
Jacobite
‘Watt conjures up a pungent atmosphere
of darkness and period detail.’
– Herald
‘A whodunnit satisfyingly rich in
unfamiliar period detail.’ – Morning Star
‘Paints the period vividly in a gripping
read.’ – Edinburgh Evening News
About
Edinburgh, 1690. Jacob Kerr, a wealthy
city merchant and church elder, has been
found stabbed to death in his own home.
Is it a routine robbery gone wrong, as the
evidence suggests?
Investigative Adovcate John MacKenzie
is dragged from happy retirement by the
irresistible pull of a murder that is not
as simple as it seems. With King William
and James Stewart about to do battle
in Ireland, the Scottish people are in a
frenzy of doubt and paranoia. The family
who reside behind the mysterious walls
of Van Diemen’s Land are no exception.
Can MacKenzie and Scougall cut through
the fog of fear to reach the truth of the
matter?
Other Books in the Series
Death of a Chief (Luath, 2010)
Testament of a Witch (Luath, 2011)
Pilgrim of Slaughter (Luath, 2015)
The Unnatural Death of a Jacobite
(Luath, 2019)

Discover the
John MacKenzie Series
17
Set in 1686 Set in 1687
Set in 1688 Set in 1689

18
ISBN
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Edition
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October 2020
9781913025380
Paperback
198x129mm
168pp
£7.99
1st
N/A
Clara Ponsati
was the Minister
for Education
in the Catalan
Government until
she had to go into
exile in Belgium,
and then Scotland,
as a result of a European Arrest
Warrant due to her activity in
the independence movement in
Catalonia. She is now an MEP.
The Case of the
Catalans
Why So Many Catalans No Longer
Want to be Part of Spain
Edited by Clara Ponsatí
About
Why would Catalans want to engage in
an uphill fight to set up an independent
state in 21st century Europe? The
answer is collective frustration and
democratic determination. Over the
years it has become evident that
the Spanish constitutional system
established in 1978 not only has
stopped evolving in the direction of
assuring Catalan self-government, but
it has clearly regressed to work against
Catalan interest.
The Case of the Catalans is a landmark
book that explains the injustice Catalans
have faced by being marginalised with
their political beliefs rendered unlawful
by the Spanish government.
In this book, Ponsatí and her team of
influential academics discuss the future
of the Catalan people and the political
and social tensions that led to the
famous referendum.
In a clear and accessible style, they aim
to educate as many people as possible,
whether interested in politics or not,
about the extraordinarily backward
democratic process that currently
defines Spain’s national identity and has
defied the settled will of the Catalan
people.

19
Ayes & Ears
Opening up the World of Westminster
David Amess
About
I kept asking myself, how could someone
like me, born into relative poverty and
with no great political helping-hand,
become a Conservative Member of
Parliament... I was undoubtedly in awe
of – and quite possibly overwhelmed by –
the high esteem in which I held the Palace
of Westminster and elected politicians.
Decades later my feelings at being reelected
as an MP for the ninth time could
not have been more different.
November 2020
ISBN
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Author
9781913025922
Royal Paperback
234x156mm
224pp
£14.99
1st
N/A
Sir David Amess
has been a
Conservative MP
since 1983, firstly
for Basildon then
Southend West.
He is actively
involved with
legislation involving animal
welfare and up until the collapse
of the ‘Red Wall’ in the December
2019 general election was one of
the very few working-class Tory
MPs in the House of Commons.
David Amess has been at the heart
of British politics for over 37 years.
He has witnessed unprecedented
changes in technology, the economy,
parliamentary procedure, the state of
the Union and the European Union.
In Ayes & Ears he reviews the major
scandals and events of this time and
reveals the inner workings of Britain’s
most important institution. David
opens up the world of Westminster
for us to explore, to wonder at the
historic traditions and to examine the
myraid changes which have taken
place over the last few decades.

20
More than a Game
Living with the Old Firm
Archie MacPherson
About
This is my odyssey of half-a-century
of broadcasting... It reflects on the
changing values surrounding the clubs
... And all along the way people have
hated each other with an intensity
which could suck the oxygen out of the
very air around any stadium.
ISBN
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Edition
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Author
OUT NOW
9781913025748
Royal Paperback
234x156mm
272pp
£14.99
1st
16pp Colour Section
Archie Macpherson
began his full-time
broadcasting
career at the BBC
in 1969 where he
became principal
commentator
and presenter
on Sportscene.
He has worked for Eurosport,
Talksport, Radio Clyde and Setanta,
and has commentated on various
key sporting events including
several FIFA World Cups. In 2005
he received a Scottish BAFTA for
special contribution to Scottish
broadcasting.
The 1980 Old Firm riot, ‘the most
infamous case of disorder’ (BBC),
stands to this day as the most
prominent instance of violent
sectarianism in Scottish football and
resulted in the banning of alcohol in
football grounds. In this new book,
acclaimed commentator and football
writer Archie Macpherson provides
a social and political analysis of the
explosive rivalry between Celtic and
Rangers from post-WWII up until now.

21
Borders Witch Hunt
17th Century Witchcraft Trials in the
Scottish Borders
Mary W. Craig
These were not the fevered tales
of Gothic horror. There was little if
any flying around on broomsticks or
turning your neighbour into a toad.
These were everyday matters: causing
the milk of a neighbour’s cow to dry
up, spoiling ale, raising a storm to ruin
crops. But everyday matters though
they were, they were also matters of
life and death.
About
ISBN
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Extent
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Edition
Illustrations
Author
October 2020
9781913025557
Hardback
210x135mm
224pp
£14.99
1st
B/W line and
photographs
Witchcraft holds a continued
fascination for readers around the
world, and the Scottish witch hunts
have recently received renewed media
attention. Not yet analysed in such
depth, expert Mary Craig explores
the witch trials and executions in the
Scottish Borders. As well as looking at
specific trials the book also explores
the role of women, both as accuser
and accused.
Mary W. Craig
is a writer and
historian living in
Scotland. She is a
former Carnegie
scholar and a
graduate of the
University of
Glasgow. She has written articles
for several journals and gives
history talks and lectures across
the country.

22
Corrour Bothy
A refuge in the wilderness
Ralph Storer
About
Corrour Bothy, the most famous and
probably oldest bothy still in use in
Scotland today, sits in a remote area
of the Cairngorms National Park. Over
the course of over a hundred years
it has been a place of refuge, rest
and reflection. Visitors to the bothy
often used the guestbooks provided
in Corrour to put their impressions on
paper.
November 2020
ISBN
Format
Size
Extent
Price
Edition
Illustrations
Author
9781913025654
Paperback
210mm x 135mm
240pp
£10.99
1st
B/W photographs
Ralph Storer is
an experienced
hillwalker who has
hiked extensively
around the
world. Although
a Sassenach by
birth, he has
lived in Scotland since studying
psychology at Dundee University
and has a great affinity for the
Highlands. His writing is known
for its witty take on matters
mountainous and his guidebooks
have become standard works on
the subject.
Had an amazing chat with three
experienced hikers by firelight in an
amazing valley. Undoubtedly one of the
best experiences of my life.
Luke, Tom, Gregory, Joe,
all 16 years old, 8 July 2016
Fed well despite the look of the food
we cooked. Midges also fed well every
time we ventured out.
9 August 1939
Ralph Storer has collected these
impressions ranging from observations
of the 1920s and on through the war
years of 1939–45 to the present day,
including practical bothy cooking advice
and humorous comments on fellow
bothy guests. They were rendered in
the form of simple entries, poems and
drawings.
As an ode to the wilderness of the
Cairngorms, Corrour Bothy provides
an impression of the past century of
mountaineering and hillwalking in the
area and serves as a timely reminder of
why the bothies of the Highlands should
be preserved and protected.

23
Life in the Raws
Memories of a Shale Oil Village
Jock Findlay
About
This book is the life story of John ‘Jock’
Findlay, rediscovered by his grandson
Neil Findlay MSP after finding Jock’s
writing on the back of a plywood bath
panel.
November 2020
ISBN
Format
Size
Extent
Price
Edition
Illustrations
Author
9781910022122
Paperback
210x147mm
104pp
£8.99
1st
B/W photographs
John ‘Jock’ Findlay
was born and
brought up in
the heart of the
burgeoning West
Lothian shale oil
industry. His family
and working life
was shaped and dominated by
The Pumpherston Oil Company
or ‘The works’ as it was known
locally. ‘The works’ provided
jobs, housing, education, cultural
events, sport and recreation.
Pumpherston village in Scotland, built
by Pumpherston Oil Company in 1884,
was home to the brave shale oil workers
who faced life threatening conditions. In
Life in the Raws the life of ‘a proud, good,
clever working class man’ is revealed
from 1919 to 1994 spanning almost a
whole century of Scottish history.
It presents the story of one man’s life as
well as the history of a unique Scottish
village and its community and culture.
‘Mr Findlay’s reminiscences provide
a wonderful insight into everyday
life in the Raws – the closeness of
the community, the sense of security
experienced through growing in a small
village in which everyone knew everyone
else.’ - SYBIL CAVANAGH, author of
Pumpherston: The History of a Shale Oil
Village

24
Singing in the Streets
A Glasgow Memoir
Maria Fyfe
‘One woman’s chronicle of her battles
on behalf of her class, and in particular,
women of her class – an insight to what
to expect if you follow the same path.
Victories, defeats, compromises...
It’s also proof, in the beautifully lyrical
early chapters about her childhood, that
within the warrior beats the heart of a
poet. Highly recommended!’
– Dave Anderson, Actor and Playwright
About
Remembering our roots is the answer to
revival.
November 2020
ISBN
Format
Size
Extent
Price
Edition
Illustrations
Author
9781913025700
Royal Paperback
234x156mm
224pp
£14.99
1st
B/W photographs
Maria Fyfe was
the only female
Labour MP from
Scotland when
she was first
elected in 1987.
She was an MP for
fourteen years for
Glasgow Maryhill.
In that time, she
campaigned for povertystricken
areas of the city in Parliament
before stepping down in 2001.
She has always been strongly
politically active, campaigning
for the equal representation of
women.
In Singing in the Streets Maria Fyfe tells
her story from her upbringing in the
Gorbals on the south bank of the River
Clyde to her election as a Member of
Parliament for Glasgow Maryhill and
beyond.
Fyfe takes the reader through the
realities of living and growing up in the
aftermath of WW2 to the pivotal days of
her early life in the Labour Party.
She offers a beautifully written personal,
nostalgic and sometimes comic view of
late-20th century Scotland. She considers
class, sexism and politics and the
progress that has been made – or has yet
to be achieved.
From council house to the House of
Commons, Fyfe shows the reader that
change is possible.
We cannot wallow in misery. We have to
fight.

25
Keeping Away the
Spiders
Essays
Anne Pia
Praise for Keeping Away the Spiders
‘No one can question Pia’s lust for life...
unquestionably a fire sign, fuelled for
creativity, experiment, exploration and
expansion, with bravado enough to voice
her view; a feminist in the face of ‘male
oracles’. This book is a tentative embrace
with poetry.’ – Janette Ayachi
‘Brimming with insight, poetry and
music’ –Sandra Ireland
About
November 2020
ISBN
Format
Size
Extent
Price
Edition
Illustrations
Author
9781913025724
Paperback
210x135mm
192pp
£9.99
1st
N/A
Anne Pia, an
Edinburgh-based
Italian Scot, is an
award winning
author and poet.
Her creative
memoir, Language
of my Choosing,
was published in 2017 and
shortlisted for a Saltire Award. Pia
has also had work published in
Northwords Now, New Voices Press
and more.
This is a book about identity,
selfdetermination and self-making; about
energy; about that vibrant surge that
forces us forward in life, to seek the new
and the possible, come whatever.
In a series of honest, often humorous
and brutally frank essays, Anne Pia
discusses sexuality, gender identity,
reluctant feminism, and food as a
sumptuous, sensual game-changer.
She conveys her exhilaration at the
transformative power of music and
learning, clothes and fashion. She gives
an unflinching account of coming to
terms with a daughter’s disability.
This life-changing book shows how
positive energy can be drawn from life’s
most challenging experiences. Anne asks
the central question: ‘Who am I and who
do I want to be?’ and invites the reader
to do the same.

26
Exploring Edinburgh
Six Tours of the City
and its Architecture
Robin Ward
About
Edinburgh features the most impressive
architecture of any city in Scotland (and
arguably Britain) yet there has been no
architectural guide published for over 20
years.
November 2020
ISBN
Format
Size
Extent
Price
Edition
Illustrations
Author
9781913025571
Paperback
210x125mm
224pp
£10.99
1st
B/W photographs
Robin Ward is
an architect and
critic born and
raised in Glasgow
and now living in
Edinburgh. During
his career he
has been widely
published, having
worked and written for the BBC
and Vancouver Sun (Canada), as
well as penning multiple books. In
recent years news outlets (such as
The Times and The Independent)
have turned to him for his
opinions on architecture.
Exploring Edinburgh is an expansive and
stylishly formatted guide to the best of
Edinburgh’s architecture. Not only does
it give a brief history of each architectural
site but also includes easy to understand
maps and suggested walking routes.
It also explores locations outside the
centre of Edinburgh for those with more
time to explore the rich architectural
landscape of Scotland’s capital.
Robin Ward has been in the media for his
criticisms on architecture, both writing
and being referenced in articles about
architecture. He is well-respected and
known for his expertise.
Exploring Edinburgh is the perfect guide
for locals wanting to get to know their
city better in these COVID-restricted
times and for visitors to the city.

27
I Like Your Hat
Magi Gibson
Praise for Washing Hugh MacDiarmid’s
Socks
‘Magi Gibson’s latest collection is an
effusive and vibrant celebration of
womanhood.’ – Aoife Lyall, The Poets’
Republic
‘It catches all the qualities of Gibson’s
best writing. Metaphorically juxtaposing
the skeletons in her cupboard with the
ghosts in her attic Gibson is a joy to read.’
– Hayden Murphy, The National
About
November 2020
ISBN
Format
Size
Extent
Price
Edition
Illustrations
Author
9781913025731
Paperback
210x135mm
128pp
£8.99
1st
N/A
Magi Gibson grew
up in a small town
near Glasgow. Her
poems have been
widely published
including in
Modern Scottish
Women Poets
(Canongate),
Scottish Love Poems (Canongate),
The Edinburgh Book of Twentieth
Century Scottish Poetry
(Edinburgh University Press),
New Writing Scotland and other
anthologies.
From social and political issues,
Amazon reviews and reflections on
life’s everyday moments, I Like Your
Hat is Magi Gibson’s latest poetry
collection. Gibson’s fresh, evocative
(and sometimes provocative) writing
is both modern and timeless. She
draw inferences with keen insight
from the little things in life (from
buying stationery, graffiti to hats) that
affect the big issues in all our lives
– growing older, poverty and loss.
Sometimes the smallest detail tells the
most important story.

28
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Christmas Gifting
29
ISBN: 9781910021576
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30
ISBN: 9781910745823 ISBN: 9781912147854
ISBN: 9781913025489
ISBN: 9781913025229
ISBN:
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HB – 9781912147731
ISBN: 9781912147748
ISBN:
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ISBN: 9781912147816 ISBN: 9781913025052

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