LITMIR.BIZ

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It is 1978. Corrado Dusa is head of Italy's Christian Democrat Party and the country's Senior Minister. He is also considered to be the key figure in resolving the crisis of dissent and violence that permeates political life. But Dusa has been kidnapped and now his son, Bernardo, a member of a militant extremist group, has disappeared. The press is aghast while the family sense disaster. Can Dusa's release be negotiated? Under what conditions? And – most importantly – with what results? First published in 1981 (The Bodley Head Press) Massie's stylish and enthralling thriller won a Scottish Arts Council Award: exploring America's influence on Europe and the causes of terrorism, The Death of Men is sure to have an arresting affect on readers today

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Selected and introduced by Jenni Calder.
Ill health drove Robert Louis Stevenson from Scotland; the urge for new and adventurous places drew him to the Pacific. There were those at home who would have been happier to see him purely as a spinner of the picturesque, but Stevenson could not close his eyes to the impact of colonialism, the ‘stir-about of epochs and races, barbarisms and civilizations, virtues and crimes’.
This collection sets three of his imaginative works —The Bottle Imp, The Isle of Voices, and The Beach of Falesa – within the social and political contexts of Stevenson’s letters and essays from the South Seas. Island ambience, the clash of cultures, moral ambiguities, all are there, and so too is Stevenson’s swift narrative control, giving a true modernity to his prose.

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Edited and Introduced by Anne McKim.
This extraordinary poem has been widely popular and influential ever since it was written in the fifteenth century, and its heroic account of the swordfighter Wallace was to symbolise the cause of liberty and independence to many other countries and cultures in the centuries to come.
Looking back to the days of the Bruce and the war of independence, Blind Harry’s poem is not an aristocratic tale of chivalry and nobility, but a vivid account of the vagaries of war and the brutal realities of battle, wounding and betrayal, all seen from the point of view of the troops in the field.
The fruit of many years of scholarship, Anne McKim has produced what is unquestionably the definitive edition of this truly epic work.
‘The story of Wallace poured a Scottish prejudice in my veins which will boil along there till the floodgates of life shut in eternal rest.’ Robert Burns

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Introduced by John Burns.
This is the world of universal future war. Faced with the threat of bombs, bacteriological warfare and poison gas, a married couple whose pacifism compels them to opt out of ‘civilisation’, take to the hills to live as fugitives in the wild.
Plainly and simply told, Wild Harbour charts the practical difficulties, the successes and failures of living rough in the beautiful hills of remote Speyside. In this respect the book belongs to a tradition of Scottish fiction reflected in novels such as Stevenson’s Kidnapped and Buchan’s John Macnab. But it takes a darker and more contemporary turn, for although Hugh and his wife Terry learn to fend for themselves, they cannot escape from what the world has become. Their brief summer idyll is brought to an end as the forces of random and meaningless violence close over them.
Written in 1936, Wild Harbour has lost none of its relevance in a post-nuclear age, nor its power to move and to shock.

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Introduced by Magnus Linklater.
Angelo, a private in Mussolini’s ‘ever-glorious’ Italian army, may possess the virtues of love and an engaging innocence but he lacks the gift of courage. However, due to circumstances beyond his control, he ends up fighting not only for Italy but also for the British and German armies.
With his patron the Count, the beautiful Lucrezia, the charming Annunziata, and the delightful Major Telfer, Angelo’s fellow characters are drawn with humour, insight and sympathy, making the book a wittily satirical comment on the grossness and waste of war.
Eric Linklater, who served with the Black Watch in Italy in World War II, is one of Scotland’s most distinguished writers. In Private Angelo he has written a book which demonstrates that honour is not solely the preserve of the brave.
‘He writes not only of an angel, but like one . . . Private Angelo is now a permanent portrait in the heavenly gallery of human frailty.’ Observer
‘The drollest medley of muddle and misadventure . . . A quite unforgettable group of people take part, none of whom lacks the genuine Linklater stamp . . . A high-spirited entertainment which never loses its individual air.’ Sunday Times

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Edited and introduced by Andrew Tod.
‘I was born on the 7th May 1797 of a Sunday evening at No. 5 N. side of Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, in my father’s own lately built house and I am the eldest of five children he and my mother raised to maturity.’
Thus opens one of the most famous set of memoirs ever written. Since its first bowdlerised edition in 1898, they have been consistently in print. This is the first ever complete text.
Written between 1845 and 1854 the memoirs were originally intended simply for Elizabeth’s family, but these vivid and inimitable records of life in the early 19th century, and above all on the great Rothiemurchus estate, full of sharp observation and wit, form an unforgettable picture of her time. The story ends with the thirty-three-year-old Elizabeth finding her own future happiness in marriage to an Irish landowner, Colonel Smith of Baltiboys.
‘A masterpiece of historical and personal recall.’ Scotsman

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'When I was a little girl, the ghosts were more real to me than the people.'
In this perceptive and unpretentious autobiography Christian Miller recalls her privileged but at the same time deprived upper-class childhood in a castle in Scotland.
Through the eye and ears of a 1920s child who seems to have seen and heard everything within the massive granite walls of her home, she gives us a unique insight into what must surely have been one of the last relics of feudal life.

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Scottish cuisine reflects both the richness of the country's resources and the frugality often imposed on its inhabitants. From the ninth century to the present, from the simplicity of porridge and oatcakes to the gourmet delights of fish and game, this is a fascinating history of Scotland, complete with Annette Hope's personal collection of authentic recipes.
A Caledonian Feast is widely acknowledged to be the definitive culinary history of Scotland. Immensely readable and informative, it draws upon many strands of Scotland's literary heritage including works by Scott, Boswell, Smollett and Hogg as well as agriculturalists, social historians and specialist food writers like Marian McNeill. It was shortlisted for Scotland's premier literary prize, the McVittie's, and given a Scottish Arts Council award when first published in 1987. This ned edition includes a superb introduction from Clarissa Dickson Wright.

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