Scotland: The Autobiography

sheilajim · Post by **sheilajim** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 7:50 pm

Hi All

The Economist is recommending the book: Scotland: The Autobiography-2000 Years of Scottish History by Those Who Saw it Happen. By Rosemary Goring. Viking : 512 pages, 25Lb. To be published in U.S.A in July.

"From the battlefield to the sports field; the tumultuous story of Scotland as told by those who witnessed it first hand. A surprising collection."

The above is what was printed in The Economist. I think that this book might be of interest to our members of Talking Scot. It sounds like a good book. I can't wait to get a copy.

Regards

Post by **Anne H** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:58 am

Hi Sheila,

Sounds like another very good read...did you get a copy of it? I've had to curtail my spending for a while, so won't be able to get this one...for now anyway

Regards,
Anne H

Post by **SarahND** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 10:50 am

Ooh, Sheila, I didn't see this first time around. Sounds fascinating! Anne, if it is coming out in July, you have 7 months to save up for it

Regards,
Sarah

Post by **Anne H** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 4:49 pm

Sarah,
Hopefully by July my credit card will have cooled down a little bit

Sheila
Hopefully you won't have the same problems waiting to get this book as with The Scottish Detective...but if you don't want to wait, you can get it from the UK.

I probably will get it...I want to see what the 8-year old remembers, as in this synopsis from: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesw ... ku=5897817

Synopsis
This is a vivid, wide-ranging and engrossing account of Scotland's history, composed of eye-witness accounts 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 just key historic moments - from Bannockburn to the opening of the new parliament in 1999, but 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 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, we have moments of glory or disaster, along with wonderfully readable insights into the everyday life of Scotland through the millennia. This is living, accessible history told by crofters, criminals, servants, house-wives, poets, journalists, nurses, politicians, prisoners, comedians, sportsmen and many more.

Happy reading

Regards,
Anne H

sheilajim · Post by **sheilajim** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:37 pm

Hi Ann & Sarah

Happy Holidays to both of you.

I might order it from the UK, but I think that I will wait a month or so. What with Xmas and repairs on one of our cars, I want to pay off my credit card first.

I don't believe in carrying a balance on them.

This book really does seem interesting, especially since it has accounts from ordinary people. I can hardly wait to get my hands on it.

Anne, I certainly hope that I won't have to wait as long for this book, as I did for The Scottish Family Tree Detective.

Regards

Post by **Anne H** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:46 pm

Hi Sheila,

Happy Holidays to you, also

I want to pay off my credit card first. I don't believe in carrying a balance on them.

I don't like carrying a balance either...unfortunately, I tend to get carried away at times, especially when I pull that card out for anything to do with genealogy

Still have a little way to go before I clear it up

but I'm getting there

Regards,
Anne H

sheilajim · Post by **sheilajim** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:40 am

Hi Anne

Here is to for a balance free card, for all of us , sometime in the early New Year!

Regards

Post by **marilyn morning** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 4:25 am

Hi Sheila & Anne

Here's an idea

If you're able to play the wait and see game, maybe this book would show up as a prize for the next Tombola drawing?

Not for nothing, but it would sure give everyone's credit card a cooling off period.

Regards
Marilyn

Post by **Anne H** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 5:08 am

Good idea, Marilyn...you never know, I might get lucky with the Tombola next time....well...I can hope and dream, can't I

Anyway, as you say, it would give our credit cards a chance to cool down a bit

Regards,
Anne H

sheilajim · Post by **sheilajim** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:48 pm

Hi Marilyn

That is a wonderful idea!

Great thinking

It would add an extra element of excitement, to the draw.

Only one person can win, but everyone would have a chance. If you don't win,

you can buy it then.

Cheers