Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland [Hardcover]

Some 3500 entries, totalling 750,000 words written by John and Julia Keay and nearly 150 expert contributors (including public figures such as Lord Home, David Steel and Fitzroy MacLean and a host of academics), describe all the main topographical, historical, social, architectural and industrial features of Scotland from A-Z. In addition, the book includes biographical entries on eminent Scots men and women of the past.

A mine of information, an inexhaustible source of enlightenment and an irresistibly readable guide to all thing Scottish, the 'Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland' contains almost a million words, four thousand separate entries and nearly five hundred illustrations.

The encyclopaedia covers every aspect of Scotland's past, her people, arts, industries, environment and continuing traditions. Here, for example, in the thirty odd entries between 'crannogs' and 'cudbear', lurk the ambivalent Scottish 'crossbill', Glasgow Boy 'Joseph Crawhall', Dr Finlay's 'A J Cronin, Crathes' and 'Crookston' Castles, 'Crieff' and 'Crawford', 'Creetown', 'Crianlarich' and 'Cromarty', not to mention 'James' ('the Admirable') 'Crichton', the battle on the Haughs of 'Cromdale' and a brief history of 'crofting'.

As a comprehensive gazetteer of Scottish topography (from 'Muckle Flugga' to the Mull of 'Galloway'), and as a dictionary of Scottish biography (from 'Aaron Scotus' to the Marquisate of 'Zetland'), the first ever encyclopaedia of Scotland distills the heritage of a nation. There are entries on individual architects, artists, botanists, Covenanters, educationalists, engineers, explorers, inventors, Jacobites, kings and queens, missionaries, poets, scientists, soldiers, sportsmen, surgeons, saints and sinners: while topics such as 'agriculture', 'fishing', 'football', 'golf', 'heraldry', the 'law', 'shipbuilding' and 'whisky' are examined in detail. 'Clans', castles, regiments and antiquities no less than political protests, religious disputes, sport and aesthetic movements are treated authoritatively and incisively by an experienced editorial partnership and over a hundred specialist contributors.

Matching accessibility with scholarship, the 'Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland' should become a standard source for Scottish nationals, for Scots worldwide, and for anyone with an interest in Scotland.

"A landmark literary achievement"
JACK MATHIESON, 'Edinburgh Evening News'

"Extraordinary … serious research and a grand historical sweep that leaves one slightly stunned"
MAGNUS LINKLATER, 'The Times'

"For millions of Scots worldwide, this is a treasure trove"
PETER MCKAY, 'Mail on Sunday'

"The scholarship is immaculate"
LUDOVIC KENNEDY, 'Daily Telegraph'

"A welcome, valuable and fascinating book"
OLGA WOJTAS, 'Times Higher Education Supplement'

"Excellent… It will quickly establish itself as one of the few reference books which can truly be described as indispensable"
GLASGOW HERALD

"An awesome achievement… Ask for the Keays next time you need to know anything about Scotland"
DEAN TAYLOR, 'Scotland on Sunday'

John Keay is the author of four acclaimed histories: 'The Honourable Company', 'Last Post', about the imperial disengagement of the Far East; the two-volume 'Explorers of the Western Himalayas' and 'India: A History'. His books on India include 'India Discovered', 'Into India' and 'The Great Arc: The Dramatic Tale of How India was Mapped and Everest was Named'. John Keay is married with four children, lives in Scotland and is co-editor with Julia Keay of the 'Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland'.

Julia and her husband John Keay have devoted seven years to the ‘Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland’. They live in Argyll.