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.

A movie clapper board

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

Cover of Irvine Welsh's The Acid House

The Acid House by Irvine Welsh

Cover of Flying Scotsman by Obree

Flying Scotsman by Graeme Obree

Cover scan of Hallam Foe

Hallam Foe by Peter Jinks

Cover scan of the adult edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling

Cover scan of Stevenson's Kidnapped

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

Cover scan of The Last King of Scotland, movie tie-in edition

The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden

Cover scan of the Penguin Macbeth

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Cover scan of Scott's The Master of Ballantrae

The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson

Cover scan of Warner's Morvern Callar

Morvern Callar by Alan Warner

Cover scan of Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell

Cover scan of Stone of Destiny

Stone of Destiny by Ian Hamilton

Cover scan of Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps

The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan

Cover scan of Welsh's Trainspotting

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

Cover scan of James Kennaway's collection Household Ghosts

Tunes of Glory by James Kennaway

Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie

Cover scan of Trocchi's Young Adam

Young Adam by Alexander Trocchi

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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    The Acid House - Paperback - Irvine Welsh
    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.
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    Flying Scotsman: Graeme Obree - Paperback - Graeme Obree
    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.
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    Hallam Foe - Paperback - Peter Jinks
    Hallam, a confused and sweetly old-fashioned teenager, has chosen an unusual way of following life on his father's estate. His voyeurism becomes dangerous, but Hallam is eventually redeemed by love.
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    Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone - Paperback - J. K. Rowling
    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.
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    Household Ghosts: A James Kennaway Omnibus - Paperback - James Kennaway
    Tunes of Glory explores tensions and conflicts in the officers' mess of a regiment. Household Ghosts is a tale of tension, love triangles and the persistence of the past. Silence tells of the meeting and the union between a white man and a black woman.
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    Kidnapped - Paperback - Robert Louis Stevenson
    'Kidnapped' is Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure novel. David Balfour sets off to find his last remaining relatives, but is tricked into boarding a ship, and finds himself bound for slavery in Carolina.
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    The Last King Of Scotland - Paperback - Giles Foden
    '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.
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    Macbeth - Paperback - William Shakespeare
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    The Master Of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale - Paperback - Robert Louis Stevenson
    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.
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    Morvern Callar - Paperback - Alan Warner
    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.
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    The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie - Paperback - Muriel Spark
    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.
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    Stone Of Destiny - Paperback - Ian R. Hamilton
    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.
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    The Thirty-Nine Steps - Paperback - John Buchan
    In this critical edition, Christopher Harvie's introduction interweaves the writing of the tale with the equally fascinating story of how John Buchan, publisher and lawyer, came in from the cold and, via 'The Thirty-Nine Steps', ended the war as spy-master and propaganda chief.
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    Trainspotting - Paperback - Irvine Welsh
    The story of Edinburgh heroin addicts which changed the face of British fiction.
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    Whisky Galore - Paperback - Compton, Sir Mackenzie
    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.
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    Young Adam - Paperback - Alexander Trocchi
    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 is 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 - Hardback - John Parker
    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.
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    Being A Scot - Hardback - Sean Connery; Murray Grigor
    '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.
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    Brigadoon, Braveheart And The Scots: Scotland In Hollywood Cinema - Hardback - Colin McArthur
    '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.
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    Constructing The Wicker Man: Film And Cultural Studies Perspectives - Paperback
    In giving the Wicker Man the academic attention it deserves, this book demonstrates many of the reasons why the film has acquired cult status. The essays provide insights into what is a complex and contentious film by exploring its many possible readings.
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    A Different Country - Paperback - Michael W. Russell
    When Werner Kissling died in a nursing home in Dumfries in 1988, few realized that he left behind him one of the most extensive photographic records of the Hebrides ever made. This collection includes over 100 of Kissling's Hebridean photographs.
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    Ewan McGregor: From Junkie To Jedi - Paperback - Brian J. Robb
    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.
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    I Know Where I'm Going! - Paperback - Pam Cook
    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.
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    A Private Sort Of Life - Paperback - Bridget MacCaskill
    Bridget MacCaskill has been observing professionally otters for many years. Here, she tells the story of two otter cubs from birth until adulthood, their relationship with their parents and the other otter family on the loch, and with other animals.
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    The Quest For The Wicker Man: History, Folklore And Pagan Perspectives - Hardback
    A study of the pagan beliefs behind the all-time classic horror film - 'The Wicker Man'. This volume emerged from a cross-disciplinary conference held at the University of Glasgow's Crichton Campus in Dumfries on 14-15 July, 2003.
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    Screening Scotland - Paperback - Duncan J. Petrie
    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.
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    The Wicker Man: A Novel - Paperback - Robin Hardy; Anthony Shaffer
    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?