As the glaciers of the last Ice Age receded, humans ventured into the far north, exploring a wild, fertile territory. Nomadic hunter-gatherers at first, they made the decision to stay for good - to farm and to build.

The landscapes they lived on were remarkable in their diversity. Vast forests of pine and birch ran through one of the world's oldest mountain ranges - once as high as the Himalayas but over millennia scoured and compressed by sheets of ice a mile thick. On hundreds of islands around a saw-edged coastline, communities flourished, linked to each other and the wider world by the sea, the transport superhighway of ancient times. It was a place of challenges and opportunity. A place we know today as Scotland.

Over the past 10,000 years, every inch of Scotland - whether remote hilltop, fertile floodplain, or storm-lashed coastline - has been shaped, changed and moulded by its people. No part of the land is without its human story. From Orkney's immaculately preserved Neolithic villages to Highland glens stripped of nineteenth century settlements, from a Skye peninsula converted to an ingenious Viking shipyard, to a sheer Hebridean clifftop used as the site of a spectacular lighthouse, Scotland's history is written into its landscapes in vivid detail. Scotland's Landscapes tells the enduring story of this interaction between man and his environment. Stunning new imagery from the National Collection of Aerial Photography comes together to build up a picture of a dramatic terrain forged by thousands of years of incredible change. These are Scotland's landscapes as you have never seen or understood them before.

About the Author

James Crawford is Communications Manager for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), and has worked as a journalist, editor and literary agent. He has previously co-authored Above Scotland, Above Scotland - Cities and Victorian Scotland.

Reviews

'Scotland's Landscapes is full to bursting with truly breathtaking scenes from the country's every corner - the various items from the National Collection of Aerial Photography assembled here show that Scotland may have been built and roughly shaped by geomorphological processes, but the crucial touches were bestowed by human history.'

* The Scotsman *

'A visually stunning book from the team which brought us Victorian Scotland, Above Scotland, and Above Scotland - Cities. They have produced another cracking coffee table book over which devotees of Scotland can pore for hours ... A must-have for those who would like to know Scotland better.'

* Scottish Field *

'It is easy to understand the fascination of aerial photographs. Firstly, not everybody can take them. Secondly, not everybody gets to fly over the Highlands and Islands on a cloudless day and see them from above. And thirdly, they can be absolutely heartstopping. There is a photograph from the sky of Vatersay in Scotland's Landscapes. I would almost sooner look at this photo than be there.'

-- Roger Hutchinson, author of Calum's Road



Book Information
ISBN 9781902419893
Author James Crawford
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland
Publisher Historic Environment Scotland
Weight(grams) 984g
Dimensions(mm) 257mm * 210mm * 15mm