Brian Taylor

Brian Taylor is BBC Scotland's Political Editor. Born in Dundee in 1955, Brian studied at Dundee High School and the University of St Andrews. He is also the author of several books on Scottish politics.

For the avoidance of doubt, I thrill to contemporary and recent Scottish writing. Alasdair Gray, AL Kennedy, Irvine Welsh. Ian Rankin, Iain Banks (sans M!), Janice Galloway. Tom Devine, TC Smout, Tom Nairn. Liz Lochhead, Don Paterson, Robert Crawford. Neil Gunn, Robin Jenkins, Alexander Trocchi... enough, Brian, enough.

Yet I cannot see past the trio listed above for the works which have enthused me most. It is fashionable to decry Scott: a fashion I deplore. His mastery of language, narrative and history is unsurpassed, never more so than in The Heart of Midlothian.

Hogg’s Justified Sinner mines the metaphysical, mystical heart of dour old Scotland to produce a work of cowing power that still chills to this day.

Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon I include for its enormous elegaic power – in addition, frankly, to its evocation of my native North-east. The lyrical beauty, the healthy scepticism, the Scots tongue. These are my three.

Brian Taylor's favourite Scottish Books

  • Cover scan of The Private Memoirs And Confessions Of A Justified Sinner
    Add to Basket
    £6.79
    The Private Memoirs And Confessions Of A Justified Sinner - James Hogg - Paperback
    Set in early 18th century Scotland, this novel recounts the corruption of a boy of strict Calvinist upbringing by a mysterious stranger under whose influence he commits a series of murders. Could this stranger be a figment of the imagination, or the devil himself?
  • Cover scan of Sunset Song
    Add to Basket
    £5.94
    Sunset Song - Lewis Grassic Gibbon - Paperback
    Divided between her love of the land and the harshness of farming life, Chris Guthrie finally chooses to stay in the rural community of her childhood. But the First World War and the subsequent economic changes have a deep impact on her life. 'Sunset Song' was voted the Best Scottish Book of All Time.

Books written by Brian Taylor

  • Cover scan of The Road To The Scottish Parliament
    Add to Basket
    £22.99
    The Road To The Scottish Parliament - Paperback
    First published in 1999, this revised and updated guide to the establishment of Scotland's Parliament follows the road to devolution - with fresh detail of the obstacles which stood in the way. The author offers an analysis of the background to this monumental political change.
Last modified Friday 14 May 2010