Emerging from the aftermath of the disastrous Darien Scheme and the Treaty of Union (1707) the Royal Bank was established in 1727 to play a major role in many aspects of Scottish life. This book not only charts the fascinating history of the Royal Bank itself; it also brings to life events and personalities connected with it over two centuries. We get fascinating glimpses into the Jacobite invasion of Edinburgh, architectural development in Edinburgh and Glasgow and the expansion of the railways. There are also marvellous insights into aspects of important personalities like Archibald, Earl...

For this, one of a series of illustrated volumes, first published in 1907, Neil Munro (1863-1930) was surely the ideal choice of author with his versatility as historical novelist and journalist. Born and bred in Inveraray, he spent years on the Glasgow Evening News, contributing two well-loved columns that envious colleagues would describe as having the Munro touch. Para Handy made his first casual appearance in those pages. This book is a rich storehouse of facts geographical and historical, but it too shows the Munro touch. We feel his joie de vivre and his innate love of his own corner of...

As Fenella Wilson points out in her Introduction to this collection of Neil Munro's writings on war, the theme is represented in each aspect of his career as a writer - in his fiction, journalism and poetry. A number of the short stories here, including two Para Handy tales, were published Munro's lifetime, as was his introduction to Fred Farrell's 1920 The 51st Division War Sketches, and some of the Poems. What has not previously 'seen the light of day' since The Great War are the reports which Munro wrote as a war correspondent, as a civilian and later in uniform, in 1914, 1917 and 1918....