A vivid, wide-ranging, and engrossing account of Scotland s history, composed of timeless stories by those who experienced it first-hand. Contributors range from Tacitus, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Oliver Cromwell to Adam Smith, David Livingstone, and Billy Connolly. These include not only historic moments from Bannockburn to the opening of the new parliament in 1999 but also testimonies like that of the eight year- old factory worker who was dangled by his ear out of a third-floor window for making a mistake; the survivors of the 1746 Battle of Culloden, who wished perhaps that they had died on the field; the breakthrough moment for John Logie Baird, inventor of television; and, the genesis of great works of literature recorded by Conan Doyle, Stevenson, and the editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica. From the battlefield to the sports field, this is living, accessible history told by crofters, criminals, servants, housewives, poets, journalists, nurses, politicians, prisoners, comedians, sportsmen, and many more.

Praise for Scotland: The Autobiography
History caught on the hoof and the wing by those who were actually there a brilliant selection and guide which should do for today what Scottish Pageant did for us fifty years ago. Andrew Marr, author of A History of Modern Britain

A spirited collection of witnessing from all the periods of Scottish history...the choices [Goring] makes are quite exquisite and collectively the book fulfills the very needful function of telling the Scottish story itself. The New York Review of Books

A fascinating and very valuable book. The Scotsman

About the author
Rosemary Goring studied economic and social history at St. Andrews University before starting her career in publishing. She has since edited and written for many reference books, among them the Larousse Dictionary of Writers and Dictionary of Literary Characters. First Literary Editor of Scotland on Sunday, she became Literary Editor of The Herald.