Books published by Birlinn General

Paul Murton journeys the length and breadth of the spectacularly beautiful Scottish Highlands. In addition to bringing a fresh eye to popular destinations such as Glencoe, Ben Nevis, Loch Ness and the Cairngorms, he also visits some remote and little-known locations hidden off the beaten track.

The Night Before Morning is a gripping, page-turning thriller based on an alternative version of events at the end of the Second World War in the vein of Robert Harris and John Buchan. Alistair Moffat has created a chilling post-1945 world where Britain has been occupied by the Nazi forces.

Pocket Poetry: Poems for Nurses and Midwives is a companion of poems intended to provide both support, comfort and inspiration. The poems themselves explore the meaning of nursing, midwifery and compassion in order to promote new nurses' and midwives' self-care and wellbeing.

Polly Pullar has had a passion for red squirrels since childhood. As a wildlife rehabilitator, she knows the squirrel on a profoundly personal level and has hand-reared litters of orphan kits, eventually returning them to the wild. In this book she shares her experiences and love for the squirrel and explores how our perceptions have changed.

This is a special collection which includes all four of the Alexander McCall Smith''s Young Precious adventures so far:Precious and the MonkeysPrecious and the Missing LionPrecious and the Mystery of Meerkat HillPrecious and the Zebra Necklace

Stuart Kelly's biography of Sir Walter Scott defies classification in terms of genre. Rather than a literary biography, or critical study, it is a personal examination of the sometimes overwhelming affect Scott has had on Scottish identity at large, and on how his legacy affects the very act of writing in Scotland.

To Learn the Future is a charming and thoughtful collection to help and inspire teachers of all ages, with poems grouped into five themes to provide resilience, compassion and well-being.

This humorous yet informative book features details of the acclaimed Great Tapestry of Scotland in a history book for young readers aged 8-12.

Brunch should evoke a sense of pleasure and relaxation - and perhaps also the temptation to try something new.

For Any Other Truth is a thrilling mystery where retired terrorists, radical environmental groups and the secret service violently collide; the ninth instalment in the bestselling DCI Daley series, with over 1 million copies sold worldwide.

The Unremembered Places is a poignant and enthralling take on some of Scotland's most fascinating, yet overlooked, places of interest. Shortlisted for the The Great Outdoors Awards - Outdoor Book of the Year 2020 and the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature 2020.

After giving up a hectic life as a journalist in Europe and Hollywood in the late 1960s to return to his boyhood love of nature, Mike Tomkies moved to Eilean Shona, a remote island off the west coast of Scotland.

This book features an introduction which explores the role of proverbs in Scottish culture and over 1,000 proverbs arranged in easily accessible A-Z format. The addition of a comprehensive glossary will help you fully appreciate these colourful and often humorous nuggets of wisdom and advice.

Customs play an important part in all societies and offer fascinating insights into a country's history and culture. Scotland boasts a multitude of unique customs, many of which can be traced back to the times of the Druids, Celts and Romans.

This is the ideal guide to the whole route, so rich in history and natural beauty.

When Mike Tomkies moved to a remote cottage on the shores of Loch Shiel in the West Highlands of Scotland, he found a place which was to provide him with the most profound wilderness experience of his life.

Award winning food hero Iain R. Spink, whose tireless work promoting the Arbroath Smokie has garnered him national acclaim, presents here the story of the Scottish delicacy as well as over 30 mouth-watering recipes, including Arbroath Smokie and Leek Chowder. Another great addition to a series that includes the MacSween Haggis Bible.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland is one of the most ambitious community arts projects ever undertaken.

In this new Selected Poems, Kathleen Jamie explores the multi-faceted world of George Mackay Brown's Orkney, the poet's lifelong home and inspiration. George Mackay Brown's concerns were the ancestral world, the communalities of work, the fables and religious stories which he saw as underpinning mortal lives. Brown believed from the outset that poets had a social role and his true task was to fulfil that role. This is not the attitude of a shrinking violet, tentatively exploring his 'voice'. Art was sprung from the community, and his role as poet to know that community, to sing its stories. But there was also room for introspection; the poet's task was simultaneously to 'interrogate silence'.

George Mackay Brown was a master of the short story form and produced a steady stream of short fiction collections, starting with A Calendar of Love (1967) and include A Time to Keep (1969) and Hawkfall (1974), as well as his poetry collections and novels. In this selection, edited and introduced by Malachy Tallack, we explore the author's Orkney and the ups and downs of the crofters and fishermen there. These magical stories, drawn from ancient lore and modern life, strip life down to the essentials.