Scottish Book Extracts
Art, Architecture and Photography
- Extract from A Sense of Belonging to Scotland: Further Journeys by Andy Hall
- Extract from Scotland's Best Churches
- Pictures and captions from Edinburgh: A New Perspective by Jason Baxter
- Exclusive picture extract from Stunning Castles of Scotland by Graeme Wallace
- Read the introduction and sample some images from The Scottish Mountains by Alan Gordon and Hamish Brown
Academic and Technical
- A fully illustrated extract from Chapter 5 of Edinburgh Rock: The Geology of the Lothians
Biography and Autobiography
- Two extracts from Scottishness: Reflections on Identity from Edinburgh's Holyrood Magazine. Author Bill Duncan, and photographer Albert Watson, talk about their perceptions of the Scottish identity
- From author Robert Douglas, we feature chapter one of his new memoir, Somewhere To Lay My Head
- Three extracts from the Edinburgh University Press Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, highlighting three Scottish women who made their names in Canada and the USA
- Charan Gill was Scotland's 'curry king', owner of Europe's largest chain of curry houses. We feature an extract from his autobiography, Tikka Look At Me Now
- Read Shirley McKie's introduction to The Price of Innocence
- Remzije Sherifi worked for a journalist for many years in Kosova, and in her biography Shadow Behind the Sun she recounts the terrible events of the fall of the Milosevic regime.
Children's Books
- Two delightful illustrations from Uan The Little Lamb by Sandra Klaassen
- Read a chapter from Matthew Fitt's delightful translation of Roald Dahl's classic The Twits, The Eejits
- A sample from Reading Round Edinburgh, showing how the Museum of Scotland has inspired writer John Fardell
- Chapter 29 from James Jauncey's The Witness
- Chapter 2 from The Cat Who Decided
- A short extract from Kelpies prize winner Hox
- An extract from Chill by Alex Nye, winner of the 2007 Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books in the 8-11 year old category
- Chapter 1 from First Aid For Fairies by Lari Don
Fiction
- Critical Essay on Sunset Song by Ian Campbell
- A story from Dumfries-shire in Classic Folk Tales of Scotland
- Actor, stand-up comic and author Susie Maguire introduces us to her own Stories from the dressing-up box in this exclusive article following the publication of Little Black Dress
- From the science-fiction collection Nova Scotia, we feature a short story by Ken MacLeod. In A Case of Consilience, can the word of God be preached to truly alien minds?
- Our Publisher of the Month for May, Chroma, have provided an extract from the first few pages of These Are Only Words, a haunting, unnerving tale of obsession from Simon Biggam.
- Read a diary entry from Illustrious Exile, Andrew Lindsay's imagining of Robert Burns' life in the Caribbean.
- Kidnapped Extracts
- Author Louise Welsh has written a new preface to Kidnapped, for the new Canongate Classic edition
- Chapter 9: The Man With The Belt of Gold from the original text
- An extract from Miss Globe X, the final story in Toni Davidson's collection The Gradual Gathering of Lust
- The prologue to Iain M Banks' Culture novel Matter
- The prologue to Pitch Black, the latest crime novel from Alex Gray
Food & Drink
- From our May 2006 book of the month, the recipe for the Famous Three Chimneys Hot Marmalade Pudding
- Two recipes from Gourmet Glasgow: A Second Helping
- Porridge, marmalade and more from Maw Broon's Cookbook
Home & Garden
- Spring cleaning made easy with our extract from Clear the Clutter by Inge van der Ploeg.
History
- Extract from Scotland: A History edited by Jenny Wormald
- Chapter from Silent Heroes compiled by John D Miller
- Extract from Rosslyn by Andrew Sinclair
- From the new Canongate Classics series, we have an exclusive extract from Island on the Edge of the World: The Story of St Kilda by Charles Maclean. Read from Chapter 11: Evacuation.
- A beautiful picture extract from the introduction to Kate Robinson's A Search for the Whirlpool of Artifice: The Cosmology of Giulio Camillo.
- Read from Chapter one of Trevor Royle's The Royal Scots: A Concise History
- On the anniversary of the 1707 Act of Union, passed by the Scottish Parliament 300 years ago, we feature the introduction to chapter two of Christopher A. Whatley's The Scots and the Union, which explores the roots of the union in the 17th century
- Several extracts from John Gregorson Campbell's Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland as collected in Ronald Black's The Gaelic Otherworld
- Download a PDF of the foreword to Camp 165 Watten, written by Viscountess Thurso
- Learn about the Scottish family homes of the Menzies clan in our extract and PDF download from Castles of the Clans
- Discover the archaeology of Late Devonian Fife in Fossils Alive! by N H Trewin
Language
- Read Chapter 11: The Future's Oors from the new edition of Billy Kay's Scots: The Mither Tongue.
- Two extracts from the Scottish Publishers Association's Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration book - from founder Paul Harris and Kate Blackadder.
Poetry, Drama & Criticism
- Extract from Carmina Gadelica: Charms of the Gaels
- Two short poems for children from King o the Midden: Manky Mingin Rhymes in Scots, which is wonderfully illustrated by Bob Dewar
- David Greig's Introduction to Lovesongs of the Auld Enemy
- From The Comic Legend of William McGonagall
Music, Film & TV
- Exclusive extract from Les McKeown's biography of his time in the Bay City Rollers, Shang-A-Lang
Sports & Hobbies
- Extract from the introduction to Heartfelt by Aidan Smith
- The prologue to Graham Nicol's '78: How Scotland Lost the World Cup
- Keeping the kids entertained is never easy, but Spring Nature Activities for Children has plenty of fun - and educational - activities. Read our exclusive extract
- The first five pages of Mike Smith's Hearts: Diary of An Incredible Season, his personal view of Heart of Midlothian's 2005/2006 season
Travel
- Extract from Jim Hewitson's Scottish Miscellany
- Extract from Bike Scotland: Book 1 by Fergal MacErlean
- Picture extract from Glasgow: A Portrait by Roy Firth
- Interview with Andy Mooney, Chairman of Disney Consumer Products, in Global Scots: Voices from Afar.
- A sample trail from Walking On Wheels, the first Scottish guidebook written specifically for users of wheelchairs and electric scooters.
- Read the section on Ettrick Valley from Allan Foster's The Literary Traveller in Scotland
True Crime
- Following the release of Kenny Richey - the "Death Row Scot", we feature the new introduction to the book written by his brother
BooksfromScotland.com features extracts, from selected books, plus exclusive new content, such as Susie Maguire's article on her Little Black Dress; Graham Dunstan Martin's Matter Verses Mind, an introduction to his book Does It Matter?; and Louise Welsh has written a new preface to Kidnapped, the classic novel by RL Stevenson.