The first modern history of Scottish woodlands explores the changing relationship between trees and people from the time of Scotland's first settlement, focusing on the period 1500 to 1920. Drawing on work in natural science, geography and history, as well as on the authors' own research, it presents an accessible and readable account that balances social, economic and environmental factors. Two opening chapters describe the early history of the woodlands. The book is then divided into chapters that consider traditional uses and management, the impact of outsiders on the pine woods and the...

From the early settlers after the last Ice Age, and the myth and ritual that surrounds that prehistoric period, Fiona Watson charts the evolution of the Scottish people.

A respected historian of medieval Scotland releases the authentic historical Macbeth from a prison of literary and folkloric mythThanks to Shakespeare, the name Macbeth has become a byword for political ambition realized by bloody violence.Fiona Watsonhas uncovered, buried beneath the layers of myth, a history that is entirely different from, but just as extraordinary as, that recounted by Shakespeare. As ruler of Alba (Scotland) Macbeth sat on one of the longest-established thrones in Western Europe. It is true that he killed Duncan, the previous king, but this was the normal, if brutal,...

A History of Scotland’s Landscapes explores the many ways that we have used, adapted and altered our environment over thousands of years. This remarkable new perspective on Scotland offers a unique guide to tracing memories, events and meanings in the forms and patterns of our surroundings.