birlinn general (Over 4,200 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Steve has had enough - enough of cyber-bullies, enough of adults messing up the world. Sharp-witted Fran and her brother worry-wart Dan feel exactly the same. And so, along with his dog Nessie, Steve and the FranDan twins leave town in the dead of night to start on the biggest adventure of their lives .But if things were bad before, they soon get worse. Much, much worse. Some seriously bad men show up. Why have Steve and Dan been overpowered and led away as prisoners? Why are they kept tied up in the barn of a disused farm?Having managed to escape, and with no way to call for help, Fran knows it's up to her to mount a one-woman rescue. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Following on from The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, this novel takes us further into the life of the sassy Precious Ramotswe, the owner of Botswana's only detective agency. Among her cases are wayward wives, unscrupulous maids, and a mother grieving for her son lost on the plains. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Glasgow humour has always been characterised by a scant regard for caution and reserve, and its extrovert and often surreal nature. No one exemplifies all these aspects better than Stanley Baxter, Glasgow's best known and greatest comic genius. In this book, Stanley Baxter looks back to the great days of Glasgow comedy. In a series of brilliantly funny sketches and anecdotes, he introduces a cast of typical Glasgow characters - the ladies of Bearsden, the Glasgow Italians, Gloria and Clara the waitresses, and Tattie Bacchante, amongst many others. He also explores Glasgow's unique class divisions; the glottal stops, the uvular 'r', the mysteries of Bachles, Nyaffs and Dreeps and those special Glasgow appurtenances of wigs, wallies and wellies. The result is a unique introduction to the people and language of this vibrant and colourful city. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. In the global world of the Internet, where anything is possible, where scientists never cease to astonish yet seem to provide more questions than answers, Roddy Martine looks beyond the everyday and the normal, searching for answers in the mysteries of Haunted Scotland. Collected over many years, the author retells stories that have evolved through the mists of time, while others he recounts are based on interviews with those who claim to have experienced real-life paranormal encounters. Divided into geographical chapters covering the Borders, the South West, Strathclyde, the South East, the Central Belt and Trossachs, the Eastern Highlands, the Kingdom of Fife, the Western Highlands, the North, the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Inverness, Roddy Martine examines stories of paranormal activity and the legends and folklore of haunted Scotland. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, Frankenstein, introduced readers around the world to the concept of raising the dead through scientific procedures. Those who read the book were thrilled by this incredible Gothic adventure. Few, however, realised that Shelley's story had a basis in fact. What she imagined as her modern Prometheus was a serious pursuit for some of the greatest minds of the early 19th century. It was a time when scientists genuinely believed, as Frankenstein did, that they could know what it feels like to be God. Raising the Dead is the story of the science of galvanism - named after the Italian scientist Luigi Galvini who had conducted the original experiments - a movement that investigated the theory of 'animal electricity', a unifying vital spirit that animates us all, its leaders believing that they stood on the brink of immortality. While they ultimately failed in this challenge, their studies mapped out the nervous system and made valuable and enduring contributions to modern-day medical knowledge and understanding - from theorising the concept of the modern-day defibrillator, and 'deep brain stimulus' which is used to treat personality disorders, to experimental procedures involving the use of microchip-controlled devices to bridge damaged spinal nerves. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Over the centuries the Scots have made scathingly witty remarks on just about every subject under the sun - not least one another. This collection of Scottish curses and insults reveals the Scottish gift for insult and invective. Special features include a glossary of insulting terms and notes on some celebrated insulters. For the sake of maintaining perspective, the collection also features a range of less than ecstatic comments made on Scotland and the Scots by outsiders. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. 1587. After three long years, exiled from home and family, and drawn into the depths of the London underworld under the tutelage of Elizabeth I's spymaster Francis Walsingham, Hew returns to Scotland with his new English wife, Frances. The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots has unleashed a torrent of anti-English sentiment in the Scottish people and fear in King James VI, jeopardising Hew's now unlawful marriage. However, the king invites Hew to investigate the perplexing meaning of a death's head painting that has come into his possession. What does it symbolise, and is it a message from his dead mother? Are the local painters all that they appear? If Hew solves the mystery, his marriage to Frances will be blessed. The stakes have never been higher as he embarks on a quest for love and life. Queen & Countryis the fifth Hew Cullan Mystery by Shirley McKay. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Give me three years and well be millionaires, Nick challenged his long-suffering family in 1980, when cash was king. Ive got an idea thats going to take us to the top. Tinkering with alchemy in an old stable he shared with a Shire horse, Nick discovered how to create the most convincing antique replicas ever made. He started by selling a few of his netsukes on a market stall at the Birmingham Rag Market and met extraordinary and eccentric people, the risk-taking gamblers with fast tongues. Each had their own money-spinning ideas; you name it, he replicated it for the wheeler-dealers chasing the dream. When Nick and his crew reached the rarefied circles of the London art world he realised he could be dangerously out of his depth. This is the unlikely and often hilarious story of where nothing but enthusiasm and self-belief can take you. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. 'If it was me, if I was the murderer, Alice thought, where I go? What would I do? The job he had set himself was unfinished, he must be aware that his luck could not go on forever. It was a sumple calculation; at best a lifetime in prison, at worst he'd be killed by the police whilst attempting to complete his self-appointed task.' Introducing Alice Rice, Edinburgh detective. Smart and capable, but battling disillusionment and loneliness, she races against time and an implacable killer to solve a series of grisly murders among Edinburgh's professional elite in the well-to-do New Town. 'There is not a dull page from start to finish' Alexander McCall Smith 'this is a really accomplished debut: atmospheric, detailed, and hitting every requirement for a satisfying crime novel' Waterstones 'The New Rebus' Sunday Express. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Rising from an inner city background, abandoned by his pro cyclist father as a toddler, Bradley Wiggins became a prodigious talent. World Junior Champion, World Champion and Olympic Champion were all titles that came his way at a startlingly young age, but what he really wanted was success on the road. 'Wiggo's' reinvention on the path to becoming Britain's first Tour de France winner in over a hundred years of racing is one of sport's most uplifting and inspiring stories. In this captivating and insightful narrative, Wiggins' old friend and colleague John Deering sets this remarkable story against the backdrop of Wiggins' crushing Tour victory, his races along the thousands of kilometres of French tarmac, telling the tale of his brutal procession from Liege to Paris in counterpoint to his fascinating life. From a Kilburn council estate to the Champs Elysees via the Olympics, Paul Weller and the world's most glorious sideburns, the legend of Bradley Wiggins is unravelled like never before. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. My boss is so narrow minded that when he has an idea, it comes out folded I use to write her love letters in the sand. But it was an incredible hassle trying to get sand into the pillar box 'Do you know the piano's resting on my foot?' 'No, but hum it and I'll play it.' Chic Murray is a cult figure of alternative humour, a comedic pioneer ranked in the highest echelons of his art in the last century and admired around the world. Funnyosities features a huge number of Chic's funniest one-liners - some well known and others taken from material newly found by the great man's family. This collection is the perfect distillation of Chic's gloriously off-beat humour. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. We're in the middle of a new Gin Craze. Scarcely a day goes by without an established brand offering a fresh take on their established styles or, more likely, a new boutique distillery opening its doors - where gin is de rigueur. From Adnams to Zuidam; Beefeater to Bombay and London to Plymouth (and beyond) this new book from a best-selling drinks writer is the authoritative guide to the world of gin, and the first book to explore the explosion of innovative gin brands and the artisanal distillers that are reinventing this most English of drinks.With serious gin bars stocking well over 300 brands and adding still more, how do you choose? Is Edinburgh Gin a style, or just a brand name? Can a rose-flower and cucumber infusion properly be called gin? Can gin be aged in wood or does that just make it a strange tasting young whisky? And what tonic to choose, and why?In his inimitable style, best-selling drinks writer Ian Buxton will lead readers through the great gin trap with his latest no-nonsense guide to 101 Gins. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Perhaps because Bristol's seven hills once occupied the debatable border land between Mercia and Wessex, Bristolians have always taken an energetic and innovative approach to life. Home of the second largest Norman castle in the kingdom, Bristol was also a West Country holding of the Crusader Knights and a gateway to the New World. Over more than 700 years of endeavour, Bristol has been home to world-famous explorers, artists, inventors, entrepreneurs, pirates, merchants, politicians, divines, patriots and generals. "Bristol Curiosities" is a voyage of discovery that explores the curious events and even more curious people who made Bristol the successful city it has become over the millennia. From the immigrants whose activities enabled Bristol to claim the name 'Cradle of America', to the 'left-handed giant', city sledges, hidden bridges, strange trades, early recycling efforts and the storing of hundreds of thousands of smoking pipes, Bristol is a city that astounds and delights with its eclectic and surprising history. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This publication of a tour undertaken by Sir William Burrell in 1758 is noteworthy not only for its early date, but also for its wide-ranging itinerary, which took the author to parts of Scotland not previously visited by English and Continental travellers. Sir William Burrell (1732-96) was an English lawyer and antiquary belonging to a landed family based mainly in Sussex and Kent. For several years a Member of Parliament, he was also a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries of London. On his death, he bequeathed his historical papers to the British Museum, but the journal of his northern tour, undertaken when he was in his mid-20s, became detached from the bulk of the collection and was subsequently purchased by the National Library of Scotland. On his way north, he also travelled through Northern England and made a brief detour to Ireland. Burrell was a meticulous recorder whose interests included antiquities, fine art and contemporary architecture, as well as agriculture, trade and industry. His journal, with its descriptions of the rural and urban scene, should be of interest to anyone studying Scotland in the years after the Forty-Five Rebellion. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. McIntosh, Iain (illustrator). Once upon a time in Botswana in Africa there was a little girl who would later grow up to be a famous detective: Precious Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Having already cracked the case of the missing cakes at school, she now has a new mystery to solve. Precious Ramotswe has two new friends at school and they have the funniest and most resourceful pet you can imagine. But they are upset that their family's most valuable possession, their cow, has gone missing. Precious has a plan to find the missing animal but she needs the help of another in her search. Will she succeed and what obstacles will she face on her path? Find out as Alexander McCall Smith tells the story of Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. June 1940. As German troops pour across France, the veteran soldier and adventurer Richard Hannay is called back into service. In Paris an individual code named 'Roland' has disappeared and is assumed to be in the hands of Nazi agents. Only he knows the secret of the Thirty-One Kings, a secret upon which the whole future of Europe depends. Hannay is dispatched to Paris to find Roland before the Germans overrun the city. On a hazardous journey across the battlefields of France Hannay is joined by old friends and new allies as he confronts a ruthless foe who will stop at nothing to destroy him. The lights are going out across Paris and time is running out for the world as both sides battle for the secret of the Thirty-One Kings. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This text is a memoir of the author's childhood in the 1940s and 1950s on South Uist. It analyses the hardships of her life up to the end of secondary school, also interweaving the culture, characters and events of the various islands during the era of her story. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Follow the exploits of the children who go to a most unusual school - the sail-powered training ship Tobermory. When a film crew arrives in Tobermory Bay, Ben and Fee are invited to be extras. But their suspicions are soon aroused - is the film crew genuine, or are they up to something sinister? Ben and Fee soon discover the truth when they uncover a dastardly plan masterminded by a South American businessman. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. In 1743, according to legend, the last wolf in Scotland was killed by a huntsman near Inverness. At the time the extinction of wolves in Scotland was celebrated. But since then deer have multiplied in the Highlands, destroying the vegetation on which an array of wildlife depends and creating a barren, treeless landscape. Gradually it has become clear that the entire eco-system has been thrown out of balance by the elimination of a top predator. Now there are calls for a limited reintroduction of wolves into Scotland as a way of healing the damaged land. The wolf has been the victim of black propaganda since ancient times. By tellers of folk tales and historians alike it has been described as a slayer of babies, a robber of graves, a devourer of battlefield dead. In this passionate polemic, Jim Crumley argues that these stories are pure fiction, a distortion of reality which prevents people from thinking rationally about the huge benefits the presence of wolves could bring to Scotland. Now is the time for myths to be dispelled, and for the wolf to return to its old home in the highlands. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Follow the exploits of the children who go to a most unusual school - the sail-powered training ship Tobermory. When a film crew arrives in Tobermory Bay, Ben and Fee are invited to be extras. But their suspicions are soon aroused - is the film crew genuine, or are they up to something sinister? Ben and Fee soon discover the truth when they uncover a dastardly plan masterminded by a South American businessman. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. IT TAKES A LOT TO GET UNDER THE SKIN OF CORNELIUS FATTY OLEARY, .literally. The heroically proportioned Fatty OLeary can normally take life as it comes. Right at home in easy-going Fayetteville, Arkansas, he is happily married to his childhood sweetheart Betty and likes nothing better than chewing the fat with his good friends Tubby ORourke and Porky Flanagan. But when Fatty and Betty head off to Ireland on a trip of a lifetime, they find that they have left their comfort zone far behind. Calamity and mayhem ensue as one mishap after another befalls the beleaguered couple. Can Fattys broad shoulders take the strain or will he suffer one indignity too many? Will he get his just deserts or just dessert? The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Katie Scott (illustrator). Journey through the imagined islands of history. Gathered in this book are over twenty islands that have decidedly human origins, whether they are the products of imagination, deception or simply human error. They are phantoms, fakes and legends: an archipelago of ex-isles and forgotten lands. From the well-known story of Atlantis to more obscure tales from around the globe, from the islands of pure fiction to others whose existence are still in question, Malachy has created an atlas of fairytale and wonder. Beautifully illustrated throughout with original full-colour maps. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A long-forgotten promise made by Richard Hannay finds him honour-bound to resolve a violent vendetta in which the lives of a young father and his daughter are in danger from unscrupulous and desperate men. Hannay sets out on a high-octane chase from the rural tranquility of his English manor to the Scottish Borders and, ultimately, to the remote Island of Sheep. This, the last of the Hannay adventures and the last of Buchans novels to be published during his lifetime is a rare gem of high drama interwoven with Buchans personal beliefs about the problems of a post-war world. With an introduction by Andrew Lownie. This edition is authorised by the John Buchan Society. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Precious Ramotswe, that cheerful Botswanan private investigator of 'traditional build', is well-known to millions across the world through the best-selling No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Those who have been following her exploits in five previously published novels will soon be able to savour the next instalment, in which, as usual, circumstances are never as straightforward as they seem and events take a more than unexpected turn. Precious Ramotswe, is now married to Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. The Agency is busy, but Mma Ramotswe cannot ignore the plea which is made to her by a woman who comes to her with a tale of particular misfortune. Unfortunately, her attempts to help are interrupted by a close encounter between her tiny white van and a bicycle, and by a spectacular disagreement between her assistant, Mma Makutsi, and one of the apprentices at the garage. This apprentice has found a fancy girlfriend who drives a large silver Mercedes-Benz. How can he be rescued from his folly? And as for Mma Makutsi, she has found a dancing class, and a man who may not be able to dance very well but who admires her greatly. And all of this happens against a background of quiet sessions of bush tea, and of a land that stretches out forever under mile upon mile of empty sky. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Once upon a time in Botswana in Africa there was a little girl who would later grow up to be a famous detective: Precious Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Having already cracked the case of the missing cakes at school, she now has a new mystery to solve. Precious Ramotswe has two new friends at school and they have the funniest and most resourceful pet you can imagine. But they are upset that their family's most valuable possession, their cow, has gone missing. Precious has a plan to find the missing animal but she needs the help of another in her search. Will she succeed and what obstacles will she face on her path? Find out as Alexander McCall Smith tells the story of Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Willie Miller is a hero to tens of thousands of Aberdeen and Scotland fans after a glittering career that made him one of the country's most capped and celebrated players, as well as the most successful ever club captain outside the Old Firm. This book gives a unique insight into professional football during Miller's era and what it was like to lead a team managed by Sir Alex Ferguson and hold aloft the European Cup-Winners' Cup after victory over Real Madrid in 1983. It also tells previously untold stories about Sir Alex gleaned from their seven successful years together at Aberdeen.During that time Aberdeen won three Scottish league titles, four Scottish Cups, one Scottish League Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup. During a 65-cap career for Scotland, Willie played against some of the greatest players of his generation like Franz Beckenbauer, Socrates, Michel Platini, and Zico, and played alongside great international teammates such as centre-back partner Alex McLeish, Graeme Souness, Gordon Strachan and Kenny Dalglish. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. In Pianos and Flowers we are invited to glimpse a world long departed. In these stories, inspired by long-lost photographs, the lives of the people in the frame are imagined and then explored, layer by layer. Three sisters brought up in Penang, caught in the tide of war. A group of small boys in a Glasgow slum their childhood blighted by poverty, their adult lives taking very different paths. A young womans search for love in the unlikely realm of Egyptian antiquities. And through all of these photographs, and all of these stories, there runs the same refrain: the possibilities of love, of friendship, of happiness lie before us. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. In this beguiling book, Alexander McCall Smith casts his eye over five chanced-upon photographs from the era of black-and-white photography and imagines the stories behind them. Who were those people, what were their stories, why are they smiling, what made them sad? What emerges are surprising and poignant tales of love and friendship in a variety of settings - an estate in the Highlands of Scotland, a travelling circus in Canada, an Australian gold-mining town, a village in Ireland, and the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. Some will find joy and fulfilment - others would prefer happier endings.Each of them, though, will find love, and that is ultimately what matters. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. All proceeds from the book will go to the One City charity, which fights social exclusion in the city. Edinburgh's Lord Provost Lesley Hinds said: 'This book project is exactly what One City is all about. The idea of three successful Edinburgh authors, with very different perspectives, getting together to raise awareness and money by using their talent and creativity, is really exciting.'. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Imagine you're on a train. Think about all the other people on the train with you, what their lives are or have been, and the different experiences you've all had. But there is one more thing that you undoubtedly all share: you have all been in love at one time or another. In this surprising and poignant story, four strangers meet on a journey from Edinburgh to London. Each has a tale of love and of railways: for Mark, a brief encounter on a railway platform leads to an impulsive and possibly dangerous decision; Kay recounts the long journey back to her childhood home in Australia and the love that was there; David remembers a teenage friendship that faded into love; and Michael makes a discovery that art and people may not be what they seem to be at first glance. These are very different experiences, but throughout them all runs a deep current of love. And loving others, as one of the characters observes, is the good thing we do in our lives. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.