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

Cover scan of Rebecca Miller's The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller

Cover scan of Gavin Maxwell's Ring of Bright Water

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).

  • Cover scan of The Acid House
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    The Acid House
    Irvine Welsh - 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.
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    Flying Scotsman: Graeme Obree
    Graeme Obree - 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.
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    Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
    J. K. Rowling - 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.
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    The Last King Of Scotland
    Giles Foden - 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.
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    The Master Of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale
    Robert Louis Stevenson - 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.
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    Morvern Callar
    Alan Warner - 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.
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    The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie
    Muriel Spark - 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.
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    The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee
    Rebecca Miller - 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.
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    Ring Of Bright Water
    Gavin Maxwell - 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.
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    Stone Of Destiny
    Ian R. Hamilton - 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.
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    Trainspotting
    Irvine Welsh - 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.
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    Whisky Galore
    Sir Compton Mackenzie - 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.
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    Young Adam
    Alexander Trocchi - 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
    John Parker - 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.
  • Cover scan of Being A Scot

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    Being A Scot
    Sean Connery; Murray Grigor - 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.
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    Brigadoon, Braveheart And The Scots: Scotland In Hollywood Cinema
    Colin McArthur - 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.
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    Ewan McGregor: From Junkie To Jedi
    Brian J. Robb - 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.
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    I Know Where I'm Going!
    Pam Cook - 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.
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    Screening Scotland
    Duncan J. Petrie - 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.
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    The Wicker Man: A Novel
    Robin Hardy; Anthony Shaffer - 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?
Last modified Friday 27 April 2012