Books published by publisher Birlinn Ltd

The School Ship Tobermory and its intrepid young crew are back in Hebridean waters. When a violent storm blows them off course to a remote island, they discover a fisherman's journal written a hundred years ago which tells of a mysterious shipwreck crammed with treasure. But without a precise location, where do they start looking? An extraordinary chance encounter gives them a valuable clue. Before long, Ben, Fee and their friends realize they are not the only ones searching for the lost wreck and must face a ruthless and determined adversary who will stop at nothing to seize the prize.

The name of John Muir has come to stand for the protection of wild land and wilderness in both America and Britain. Born in Dunbar in the east of Scotland in 1838, Muir is famed as the father of American conservation, and as the first person to promote the idea of National Parks. Combining acute observation with a sense of inner discovery, Muir's writings of his travels through some of the greatest landscapes on Earth, including the Carolinas, Florida, Alaska and those lands which were to become the great National Parks of Yosemite and the Sierra Valley, raise an awareness of nature to a spiritual dimension.These journals provide a unique marriage of scientific survey of natural history with lyrical and often amusing anecdotes, retaining a freshness, intensity and brutal honesty which will amaze the modern reader. This collection, including the never-before-published "Stickeen", presents the finest of Muir's writings, and imparts a rounded portrait of a man whose generosity, passion, discipline and vision are an inspiration to this day.

As an outstanding exponent of Art Nouveau and leader of the ‘Glasgow Style’, Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s buildings, designs and paintingsare known the world over. In this book Eilidh Muldoon shares her passion for one of the twentieth-century’s artistic giants. From Mackintosh’smost iconic buildings, such as the Glasgow School of Art, The Cranston Tearooms and Hill House to furniture, stained glass and fabric designs,these drawings are an ideal way to explore his artistic world, and by adding colour, adding your own personal stamp.

Well before Precious Ramotswe founded her Number One Ladies Detective Agency, as an eight-year-old girl she was already solving mysteries. Here, in this delightful, enchanting tale for children, we find out just who has been stealing her schoolfriends' snacks and how the young Precious became the crafty and intuitive private investigator we all know and love!

Only one period in history is immediately, indelibly and uniquely linked to the whole area of the Scottish and English Border country, and that is the time of the Reivers. Whenever anyone mentions 'Reiver', no-one hesitates to add 'Border'. It is an inextricable association, and rightly so. Nowhere else in Britain in the modern era, or indeed in Europe, did civil order break down over such a wide area, or for such a long time. For more than a century the hoof-beats of countless raiding parties drummed over the border. From Dumfriesshire to the high wastes of East Cumbria, from Roxburghshire to Redesdale, from the lonely valley of Liddesdale to the fortress city of Carlisle, swords and spears spoke while the law remained silent. Fierce family loyalty counted for everything while the rules of nationality counted for nothing.The whole range of the Cheviot Hills, its watershed ridges and the river valleys which flowed out of them became the landscape of larceny while Maxwells, Grahams, Fenwicks, Carletons, Armstrongs and Elliots rode hard and often for plunder. These were the Riding Times and in modern European history, they have no parallel. This book tells the remarkable story of the Reivers and how they made the Borders.

Modern communications have driven motorways and pylons through the countryside, dwarfed us with TV and telephone masts and drastically altered the way in which we move around, see and understand Scotland. Recent politics and logistics have established borders and jurisdictions which now seem permanent and impervious. The Faded Map looks beyond these to remember a land that was once quiet and green. It brings to vivid life the half-forgotten kings and kingdoms of two thousand years ago, of the time of the Romans, the Dark Ages and into the early medieval period. In this fascinating account, Alistair Moffat describes the landscape these men and women moved through and talks of a Celtic society which spoke to itself in Old Welsh, where the Sons of Prophesy ruled, and the time when the English kings of Bernicia held sway over vast swathes of what is now Scotland. Heroes rode out of the mists to challenge them and then join with them. The faint echo of the din of ancient battles can be heard as Alistair Moffat takes the reader on a remarkable journey around a lost Scotland.

William Wallace and All That is a real-life adventure packed with historical facts about Scotland's legendary hero. Join Sir William Wallace on his fearsome quest to free the Scots from villainous King Edward and his evil empire. Growl with anger as you find out what nasty things Edward's vile henchmen did to Wallace's girlfriend and best pal. Get splattered with blood and gore as Wallace makes haggis of his enemies. Gasp with terror as you learn about the giant 'hedgehogs' that helped Wallace win battles. Groan with agony as you feel what it's like to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Discover how Wallace's grisly death made his legend grow.

Robert the Bruce and All That is a real-life adventure packed with historical facts about Scotland's warrior king. Gallop alongside King Robert the Bruce as he takes up the quest to free the Scots from terrifying King Edward and his bumbling son, Edward II. Voyage with Bruce to the mysterious islands of the west, and read about the secret plan to win over his kingdom. Discover what happened to Bruce's queen and sisters when they were seized by the enemy. Learn how to capture a castle as Bruce and his men topple enemy fortresses across the land. Hear skulls crack as Bruce sends Edward II homeward to think again at the Battle of Bannockburn. Follow Bruce's amazing life after death as his heart is taken into battle in Spain—and find out how it was safely returned home.

"We'll have to kill it," said Tom sadly. "The flock won't like it, and neither will Herself." Janet felt terrible. She felt as though she had broken the young chicken's leg. She began to cry. "Stop crying, for pity's sake, and run along to the house and see what Herself is doing," ordered George. Janet stopped crying at once, for she could tell that George had thought of a plan to save the chicken. What that plan was, and what came of it made an Easter surprise for all the Reachfar folk. In this third story about a little girl growing up on a remote Highland farm with her dog, Fly, her sometimes fierce grandmother, Herself, and her special friends, the farmhands, George and Tom.