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Books on Scottish History (Recommended by a Scottish Tour Guide).
31
items A selection of non-fiction books if you're seeking a Scottish history hit.
Sections
5
Ancient History
Royal History
18th/19th Century
General Scottish History
World Wars
Ancient History
Romans, Picts, Celts and early Scottish Kings
Robert the Bruce (1274–1329) famously defeated the English at Bannockburn and became the hero king responsible for Scottish independence. In this fascinating new biography of the renowned warrior, Michael Penman focuses on Robert’s kingship in the fi...
Robert the Bruce by Michael Penman | Waterstones
Read about this often overlooked ancient civilisation. The Celts details the historical timeline in an easy to digest format.
The Celts by Simon Jenkins | Waterstones
Early historic Scotland - from the fifth to the tenth century AD. the nature of their contribution and, drawing on the latest archaeological evidence and research, highlights a huge number of themes, including the following: the origins of the Picts ...
Picts, Gaels and Scots: Early Historic Scotland
Who was this ancient Celtic-speaking people, who fought off the might of the Roman Empire, are perhaps best known for their Symbol Stones ?
Tales of the Picts (Luath Storyteller)
This richly illustrated new history of Roman Scotland explores the complex, often tumultuous and frequently brutal interaction between the world's first superpower and the peoples who lived north of Hadrian's Wall.
The Eagle and the Bear: Roman Scotland History
Royal History
The Stuart Royal Dynasty through to the Queen Mother
This book is great if you want to learn about the queer life of King James 6th of Scotland. Who went on to become King James 1st of England. Often overshadowed by his famous mother, Mary Queen of Scots. Read about the dramatic life and loves of King ...
Queen James by Gareth Russell | Waterstones
Arguably the most well known female monarch in Scotland, read about the turbulent life of Mary and the relationship with her cousin, Elizabeth. Her cousin Elizabeth, Queen of England, was the only other woman in power close by, and Mary sought to all...
Rival Queens: The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots
The book details the long and turbulent reign of the Scottish Royal Stuarts. Charting the Stuarts’ rise to the thrones of Scotland and England and eventual descent to exile and ruin. From Mary Queen of Scots to Bonnie Prince Charlie, you will learn s...
The Royal Stuarts: A History of the Family That Shaped Britain
I always recommend this book if you are keen on learning about Scottish Queen Mary. Her life was dramatic, sad and needs to be told. I find her way of writing easy to understand and she tells Mary's story for a place of empathy and modern understandi...
Mary Queen of Scots|Antonia Fraser
The Queen Mother - Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was Scottish born. The ninth of the Earl of Strathmore’s ten children— Elizabeth was born on August 4, 1900, and, certainly, no one could have imagined that her long life.
The Queen Mother: The Official Biography|Paperback
The biography of Balmoral begins with the first visit to Scotland of the young Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert in 1842. Read about Highland life during this time and how it has become the beloved home of Royalty today.
Balmoral: Queen Victoria's Highland Home
The Kings and Queens of Scotland charts that process, from the earliest Scots and Pictish kings of around ad 400 through to the union of parliaments in 1707.
Kings and Queens of Scotland: Classic Histories
18th/19th Century
Through ages of enlightenment, the slave trade and later in the 19th century
An insightful and important read. The story of the Scottish Enlightenment is entwined with that of slavery and the slave trade. In fifteen stories set between 1720 and 1865 in Britain, Africa, the Caribbean and America, Slavery and the Scottish Enlig...
Slavery and the Scottish Enlightenment
Learn about the remote western island of St Kilda, the book starts from the early inhabitants to the evacuation in the 1930's.
St Kilda by Roger Hutchinson | Waterstones
Learn about the fearless clansmen and women. This book traces the history of the clans from their Celtic origins to the coming invasion of the Romans, through the great battles of Bannockburn and Flodden, to the Clearances and the present day. The st...
The Highland Clans by Alistair Moffat | Waterstones
Tim Devine writes a powerful book on the dark history of the Scottish clearances. He gives attention to evictions and loss of land in both north and south of the Highland line. This is a story of forced clearance, of the destruction of entire communi...
The Scottish Clearances by T. M. Devine | Waterstones
Aberdeen has a rich history dating back 8000 years. Gatherers settled on the banks of the River Dee. 4,000 years later, Bronze Age peoples left their mark on the landscape by constructing a huge number of recumbent stone circles, once thought to be p...
Bloody Scottish History: Aberdeen by
Read about Edinburgh's legendary underground network. For almost 250 years, Edinburgh was surrounded by a giant defensive wall. Unable to expand the city's boundaries, the burgeoning population built over every inch of square space. And when there wa...
The Town Below the Ground by Jan-Andrew Henderson | Waterstones
The Glasgow District Subway was second only to London in the UK and was the third underground system to be built anywhere in the world.
Glasgow Underground: The Glasgow District Subway
Scotland has a large part to play in the slave trade, especially on the island of Jamaica. This book focuses on the Scottish Highlanders who engaged in or benefitted from these crimes against humanity in the Caribbean Islands and Guyana, some relucta...
Slaves and Highlanders: Silenced Histories
Charles Cowan spent thirteen years as a Member of Parliament and for over thirty years he was a longstanding and founding member and advocate of the Sustention Fund Committee of the newly formed Free Church of Scotland.
A Kirk Disrupted: Charles Cowan MP & Free Church
General Scottish History
General books on the history of Scotland. Maps and illustrated guides too.
This detailed map includes two double-sided, full-colour maps of Scotland More than 170 arms, the official insignia of clan chiefs, crest badges, and the locations of their ancient territories around the time of King James VI More than 240 tartans wi...
Collins Scotland Clans and Tartans Map by Collins Maps | Waterstones
The renowned Scottish historian and archaeologist presents a compelling new portrait of Scottish history, peppered with action, high drama and centuries of turbulence that have helped to shape modern Scotland. If you enjoy his writing he also has a f...
A History Of Scotland|Neil Oliver
Glasgow is Scotland's largest city, it has a rich history of ship building, trade and engineering feats. Glasgow is much more than this; it is a religious centre, with one of Scotland’s earliest churches, a centre for the Virginia tobacco trade, a ho...
Glasgow A History
Death Historian Charlotte details the interesting and unique facts about Edinburgh's cemeteries. Detailed images of stonework and symbolism make for an interesting read.
The Graveyards and Cemeteries of Edinburgh
Inspired by the story of the last woman to be executed for witchcraft in Britain in 1727.
The Last Witch of Scotland by Philip Paris | Waterstones
World Wars
Wars including the Jacobite risings through to ww2.
The 1745 Jacobite Rebellion is arguably the most important date in Scottish history. Charles Edward Stuart, commonly known as the Young Pretender, sailed from France to Scotland in July 1745, and with only a handful of supporters to claim the throne ...
Jacobites by Jacqueline Riding | Waterstones
If popular TV and book series Outlander has tickled your interest in Scottish history, this book separates real and fictional history. Discover what clan life was really like, read about medicine in the 1700s and find out whether the red coats were r...
Outlander and the Real Jacobites by Shona Kinsella | Waterstones
Trevor Royle examines Scotland's role in the Second World War from a wide range of perspectives. The country's geographical position gave it great strategic importance for importing war materiel and reinforcements, for conducting naval and aerial ope...
A Time of Tyrants by Trevor Royle | WW2
The Shetland Bus was not a bus, but the nickname of a special operations group that set up a route across the North Sea between Norway and the Shetland Islands, north-east of mainland Scotland. The first voyage was made by Norwegian sailors to help t...
The Shetland 'Bus': Secret Agents WW2
Scotland was of grave strategic importance during the war because of its geographical position and its capital was the location of a significant number of important military and civil organisations. Edinburgh Castle became the HQ of the Scottish Home...
Edinburgh at War 1939-1945 (WWII Cities)