It is easy to overlook how much of our history is preserved all around us - the way the narrative of bygone days has been inscribed in fields, forests, hills and mountains, roads, railways, canals, lochs, buildings and settlements. Indeed, footprints of the past are to be found almost everywhere. The shapes of fields may reveal the brief presence of the Romans or the labours of medieval peasants; while great heaps of abandoned spoil or the remains of gargantuan holes in the ground mark the rapid decline of heavy industry in the recent past.

These evocative spaces provide unique evidence for the way this land and its wealth of resources has been lived in, worked on, ruined, abandoned, restored and celebrated - offering valuable clues that bring the past to life far more effectively than any written history.

A History of Scotland's Landscapes explores the many ways that we have used, adapted and altered our environment over thousands of years. Full of maps, photographs and drawings, it offers a remarkable new perspective on Scotland - a unique guide to tracing memories, events and meanings in the forms and patterns of our surroundings.

About the Author

Fiona Watson is a medieval historian and writer, and the former Director of the Centre for Environmental History at the Universities of Stirling and St Andrews. She is author of the history books Scotland's History, Scotland from Prehistory to the Present, Under the Hammer: Edward I and Scotland, Macbeth: A True Story and Robert the Bruce, as well as the novel Dark Hunter, set during the wars of independence. She was also the presenter of In Search of Scotland, a BBC TV series on Scottish history.

Piers Dixon is an archaeologist with over thirty years of experience researching, investigating, recording and writing about Scotland's landscapes.

Reviews

'This interesting and informative history will be treasured . . . I look forward to approaching future walks with a renewed understanding of the forces that shaped our towns and countryside, and the people who lived and worked here before us.'

* The Herald *

'no Scottish coffee table is complete without this beautifully presented book . . . an enjoyable, colourful read.'

* Scottish Field *

'Some books are simply enjoyable. Others are a joy. "A History of Scotland's Landscapes" is both. There's something about a large, beautifully-produced and magnificently-illustrated book that brings out the inner five-year-old in all of us: the sense of "wow" as you first open the book and leaf through, simply soaking in the pictures and the scale of the authors' achievement . . . An outstanding book likely to be of immense value to anyone who takes an interest in the landscapes we see around us in Scotland.'

* Undiscovered Scotland *

'Epic . . . [The] story is told in many different ways. It is told in the peat banks which cut through the moor like trench systems from the Western Front. It is told in corrugations of lazybeds and the hillsides. It is told in the curl of houses facing boats around the shore of Loch Hourn at Arnisdale. It is found in the extraordinary complex of high stone enclosures at An Lag on Hirta. It is found in the remnants of straight stone walls which fan out from such townships as Barvas and Carloway in Lewis.'

-- Roger Hutchinson * West Highland Free Press *

'There are so many books about the wondrous beauty of Scotland's mountains, rivers, forests and lochs. But I was engrossed from the offset by high-quality photography, accompanied by serious but accessible historical and archaeological prose . . . This is a book you're really going to want on your coffee table.'

* The Bookseller *


Awards
Long-listed for Highland Book Prize.



Book Information
ISBN 9781902419930
Author Fiona Watson
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Historic Environment Scotland
Publisher Historic Environment Scotland
Weight(grams) 1566g
Dimensions(mm) 285mm * 225mm * 25mm