Scotland's Books on Film
For a sprightly overview of Scotland's filmmaking traditions, it's worth tracking down two general titles: Forsyth Hardy's Scotland in Film and David Bruce's Scotland the Movie, unfortunately both now out of print.
Brian Pendreigh's The Pocket Scottish Movie Book is an inexpensive guide to the industry, locations and filmmakers. Allan Foster's The Movie Quiz Companion is a good choice for a present.
Colin MacArthur has a more academic look at Scots influences on cinema in Brigadoon, Braveheart And The Scots: Scotland In Hollywood Cinema while Duncan Petrie's Screening Scotland focuses on the history of Scottish film production.
Scottish Books Adapted for Film
The Acid House by Irvine Welsh
- Released January 1999
- Directed by Paul McGuigan
- Staring Stephen McCole, Maurice Roëves, Irvine Welsh, Garry Sweeney
- Features three stories from the book: The Granton Star Cause, A Soft Touch and The Acid House
- More about The Acid House on IMDb
- Buy The Acid House on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Flying Scotsman by Graeme Obree
- Released June 2007
- Directed by Douglas MacKinnon
- Starring Jonny Lee Miller
- More about The Flying Scotsman on IMDb
- Buy The Flying Scotsman on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Hallam Foe by Peter Jinks
- Released August 2007
- Directed by David Mackenzie
- Starring Jamie Bell, Sophia Myles and Ciarán Hinds
- More about Hallam Foe on IMDb
- Hallam Foe trailer on IMDb
- Buy Hallam Foe on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling
- Released November 2001
- Directed by Chris Columbus
- Starring Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane and Daniel Radcliffe
- More about Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on IMDb
- Harry Potter trailer at IMDb
- Plus all the other Harry Potter movies
- Buy Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Filmed many times
- 1938 version directed by Alfred L. Werker
- 1948 version directed by William Beaudine
- 1960 Disney version
- 1971 version directed by Delbert Mann
- 1986 Australian animated version directed by Geoff Collins
- Plus many TV adaptations
- Buy the 1971 edition of Kidnapped starring Michael Caine on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden
- Released in January 2007
- Directed by Peter Morgan
- Starring Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy and Gillian Anderson
- More about The Last King of Scotland on IMDb
- The Last King of Scotland trailer on IMDb
- Buy The Last King of Scotland on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
- Known as The Scottish Play
- Filmed many times
- Orson Welles' 1948 version of Macbeth at IMDb.com
- Buy Welles' Macbeth on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Released August 1953
- Directed by William Keighley
- Starring Errol Flynn and Roger Livesey
- More about The Master of Ballantrae on IMDb
Morvern Callar by Alan Warner
- Released November 2002
- Directed by Lynne Ramsay
- Starring Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott and Linda McGuire
- More about Morvern Callar on IMDb
- Trailer for Morvern Callar on IMDb
- Buy Morvern Callar on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
- Released in January 1969
- Directed by Ronald Neame
- Starring Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens, Pamela Franklin and Gordon Jackson
- More about The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by IMDb
- Trailer for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie on YouTube
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller
- Published by Canongate Books
- Released in July 2009
- Directed by Rebecca Miller
- Starring Robin Wright Penn, Keanu Reeves, Julianne Moore and Alan Arkin
- More about The Private Lives of Pippa Lee on IMDb
Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell
- Released 1968
- Directed by Jack Couffer
- Starring Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna
- More about Ring of Bright Water on IMDb
- Buy The Ring of Bright Water on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Stone of Destiny by Ian Hamilton
- Released in October 2008
- Directed by Charles Martin Smith
- Starring Charlie Cox, Kata Mara, Billy Boyd and Ciaron Kelly
- More about Stone of Destiny on IMDb
The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
- Filmed three times
- 1935 version directed by Alfred Hitchcock, as The 39 Steps
- 1959 version directed by Ralph Thomas
- 1978 version directed by Don Sharp
- Buy the Hitchcock edition of The 39 Steps on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
- Released February 1996
- Directed by Danny Boyle
- Staring Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Kelly MacDonald and Ewan Bremner
- More about Trainspotting on IMDb
- Trainspotting trailer on YouTube
- Buy Trainspotting on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Tunes of Glory by James Kennaway
- From the anthology Household Ghosts
- Released December 1960
- Directed by Ronald Neame
- Starring Alec Guinness and John Mills
- More about Tunes of Glory on IMDb
- Opening sequence from Tunes of Glory on YouTube
- Buy Tunes of Glory on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie
- Filmed as Whisky Galore!
- Released June 1949
- Directed by Alexander Mackendrick
- Starring Basil Radford, Catherine Lacey and Bruce Seton
- More about Whisky Galore! on IMDb
- Buy Whisky Galore on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Young Adam by Alexander Trocchi
- Released September 2003
- Directed by David Mackenzie
- Starring Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton and Peter Mullan
- More about Young Adam on IMDb
- Young Adam trailer on IMDb
- Buy Young Adam on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Other Scottish books which have made their way to the silver screen include Regeneration, Another Time, Another Place, The James Bond titles, (Ian Fleming has a Scottish background), and Venus Peter (from Christopher Rush's A Twelvemonth and a Day).
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Add to BasketThe Acid House
£7.64
- Paperback - Vintage
The Acid House presents a collection of short stories by Irvine Welsh. Using a range of approaches from bitter realism to demented fantasy, the stories cover a diverse range of subjects and are told in Welsh's distinctive style. -
Add to BasketFlying Scotsman: Graeme Obree
£7.64
- Paperback - Birlinn
This is the story of a cyclist who took on the world and rewrote the record books. Graeme's story starts with his tough upbringing in Ayrshire, where he found his escape by taking to the roads. He tells the story of how he became a world record breaker, and of his battle with depression. -
Add to BasketHarry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
£6.79
- Paperback - Bloomsbury
An adult edition of the hugely popular book. Find out how Harry discovers his true heritage at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, the reason behind his parents mysterious death, who is out to kill him, and how he uncovers the most fabled secret of all time. -
Add to BasketThe Last King Of Scotland
£6.79
- Paperback - Faber
'The Last King of Scotland' combines elements of thriller noir with brilliant comedy, in the grand tradition of Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene and, more recently, William Boyd. Serious concerns are mixed with extravagant spectacle. -
Add to BasketThe Master Of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale
£7.64
- Paperback - Penguin
The Master of Ballantrae opens in the old Scottish house of Durisdeer. Its adventure draws in sea voyages, piracy, buried treasure and centres on the fatal rivalry between two brothers and the kinswoman who loves one brother but marries the other. -
Add to BasketMorvern Callar
£6.74
- Paperback - Vintage
This contemporary debut novel from Scottish author Alan Warner centres on Morvern Callar who wakens one morning to discover her boyfriend has committed suicide in the kitchen. Her reaction is both intriguing and immoral and her ensuing actions appalling. -
Add to BasketThe Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie
£7.64
- Paperback - Penguin
Miss Brodie is a teacher who exerts a powerful influence over the group of 'special girls' at the Marcia Blaine Academy. Each is famous for something & are initiated into a world of adult games & extra-curricular activities they will never forget. -
Add to BasketThe Private Lives Of Pippa Lee
£7.64
- Paperback - Canongate
At 50, Pippa Lee seems just fine. The devoted wife of a man 30 years her senior, the mother of succesful twins, & an adored friend & neighbour, she seems to glow with feminine serentiy. But when her husband decides they should move into a retirement home, Pippa finds her persona unravelling in alarming ways. -
Add to BasketRing Of Bright Water
£10.00
- Paperback - Little Toller
'Ring of Bright Water' represents Gavin Maxwell's account of his life at Camusfearna, a remote cottage in the western Highlands, and in particular the two otters, Mijbil and Edal, who became his constant and much-loved companions. -
Add to BasketStone Of Destiny
£6.79
- Paperback - Birlinn
The story of four young Scottish students who, on Christmas Eve 1950, broke into Westminster Abbey and stole the Stone of Destiny. Ian Hamilton was the leader of the group. -
Add to BasketTrainspotting
£5.99
- Paperback - Vintage Books
'Trainspotting' is hilarious, and profane, riddled with drugs, drunks and bad behaviour and rich with flawed characters. The interwoven stories of a group of friends and junkies, it is a trip through the highs and lows of their lives. -
Add to BasketWhisky Galore
£7.64
- Paperback - Vintage
It is 1943, and the war has brought rationing to the Hebridean Islands. It looks like the end of the world when the whisky is about to run out, and the locals are about to despair when a ship with a cargo of whisky is wrecked. -
Add to BasketYoung Adam
£8.99
- Paperback - Calder
This existential thriller is set on a barge travelling along the canal that runs between Glasgow and Edinburgh. What plot there is revolves around the discovery of the corpse of a young woman found floating on the canal.
Documentaries and Other Filmed Books
Documentary titles include Michael Russell's book, A Different Country, on Werner Kissling, a German filmmaker who went to Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides in the 1930s and produced a short luminous film on a vanishing way of life; Bridget MacCaskill's account of her life as a wildlife filmmaker filming otters, A Private Sort of Life was published by Whittles and I Know Where I'm Going! traces the Powell and Pressburger film's production history.
The Wicker Man, the cult film from the 1960s, continues to interest students of film: The Quest for the Wicker Man explores the roots of the film; Constructing The Wicker Man: Film And Cultural Studies Perspectives is again for students of film theory.
Actor's biographies are quite sparse. There is one of Edinburgh's favourite sons, Arise Sir Sean Connery - and of course Connery's own book, Being A Scot; while Ewan McGregor is well served by Ewan McGregor; The Scot Pack: The Further Adventures Of The Trainspotters And Their Fellow Travellers and Choose Life: Ewan McGregor And The British Film Revival.
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Arise Sir Sean Connery
£6.79
- Paperback - John Blake
Sean Connery is one of the world's few true superstars. The screen creator of James Bond has commanded some of the highest fees in Hollywood and is lauded by critics and public alike. John Parker traces the astonishing rise to stardom of a tough street kid from Edinburgh. -
Being A Scot
£20.00
- Hardback - Weidenfeld & Nicolson
'Being a Scot' is a vivid and highly personal portrait of Scotland and its achievements. Sean Connery offers a correction to misconceptions that many believe are part of the historical record whilst revealing as never before his own vibrant personal history. -
Add to BasketBrigadoon, Braveheart And The Scots: Scotland In Hollywood Cinema
£44.00
- Hardback - I. B. Tauris
'Brigadoon' and 'Braveheart' have an important resonance for Scots, and for non-Scots for whom such films provide general impressions of Scottishness. This book discusses the films' representations of Scotland and the Scots. -
Ewan McGregor: From Junkie To Jedi
£8.49
- Paperback - Plexus
This in-depth biography charts Ewan McGregor's phenomenal rise to stardom. His screen career began with Lipstick on Your Collar. He then went on to star in Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and Emma proving his acting diversity. -
Add to BasketI Know Where I'm Going!
£9.34
- Paperback - British Film Institute
Set in the wild Scottish Highlands, this film follows the journey of a headstrong young woman forced by her encounter with this magical, mythic world and its exotic customs to revise her materialistic priorities. Pam Cook explores this most enigmatic and entrancing of Powell and Pressburger films. -
Screening Scotland
£20.99
- Paperback - British Film Institute
Over the past five years a vital Scottish cinema has emerged with a degree of independence from the British industry. This book provides an overview of these developments and the institutional context within which successes have appeared. -
The Wicker Man: A Novel
£5.94
- Paperback - Pan
A novelization of the Anthony Shaffer script, this is a tale of a policeman on the trail of a missing girl being lured to the island of Summerisle. As May Day approaches, shamanistic and erotic events erupt around him. Was the girl a human sacrifice?









































