When the Second World War ended England was bombed-out & starving with practically every saleable commodity rationed. It was the age of austerity & criminal opportunity. Thieves broke into warehouses hi-jacked lorries & ransacked railway yards to feed the black market; others stole recycled or forged ration coupons. Scotland Yard was 6 000 men under strength but something dramatic had to be done
- & it was. Four of the Yards best informed detectives were summoned to form the Special Duties Squad which became widely known as the Ghost Squad. They were told: Go out into the underworld. Gather your informants. Do whatever is necessary to ensure that the gangs are smashed up. We will never ask you to divulge your sources of information. But remember
- you must succeed. They did. Divisional Detective Inspector Jack Capstick a brilliant thief-taker & informant runner Detective Inspector Henry Clark who knew the south London villains as few other detectives did & in addition possessed a punch like the kick of a mule & Detective Sergeants Matt Brinnand & John Gosling who topped the Flying Squad war-time arrests set about their task using informants undercover officers & their own unsurpassed ability. In under four years they arrested 789 criminals solved 1 506 cases & recovered stolen property valued at GBP250 000
- or GBP10 million by todays standards. The Ghost Squad was a one-off. How the four officers accomplished this feat is divulged in this thrilling book using hitherto unseen official documents & conversations from people who were there.


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In Scotlands Empire" T.M Devine tells the compelling story of Scotlands role in forging & expanding the British Empire from the Americas to Australia India to the Caribbean. By 1820 Britain controlled a fifth of the worlds population & no people had made a more essential contribution than the Scots
- working across the globe as soldiers & merchants administrators & clerics doctors & teachers. In this widely praised book T. M. Devine
- acclaimed author of " The Scottish Nation" & " To the Ends of the Earth: Scotlands Global Diaspora"
- traces the vital part Scotland played in creating an empire
- & the fundamental effect this had in moulding the modern Scottish nation. ""A tour de force"... Tom Devine is the pre-eminent historian of modern Scotland". (Niall Ferguson author of " Empire"). " Captivating.. .tells the story of the Scots who put their marching boots on or were forced into them to start a new life abroad". (Barclay Mc Bain " Herald"). "A fascinating work replete with telling detail". (Allan Massie " Literary Review"). " Nobody has done more over the past thirty years to bring Scottish historiography into rigorous & unsentimental alignment with developments elsewhere than Tom Devine". (Colin Kidd " The Times Literary Supplement"). " Captivating.. .tells the story of the Scots who put their marching boots on or were forced into them to start a new life abroad". (" Economist"). T.M. Devine OBE is University Research Professor & Director of the Research Institute of Irish & Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen. His other books include " The Scottish Nation" & " To the Ends of the Earth"."



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The guide describes 34 mountain walks in Scotlands far-west peninsula
- including Morvern Ardnamurchan & Ardgour
- & on the

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An introduction about the Womens Land Army in the First & Second World Wars is followed by reminiscences recorded recently by the editor of ten ex-Land Girls. It is co-published by NMS Enterprises Limited
- Publishing & the European Ethnological Research Centre (EERC) an independent unit within Celtic & Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
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As the glaciers of the last Ice Age receded humans ventured into the far north exploring a wild fertile territory. Nomadic hunter-gatherers at first they made the decision to stay for good
- to farm & to build. The landscapes they lived on were remarkable in their diversity. Vast forests of pine & birch ran through one of the worlds oldest mountain ranges
- once as high as the Himalayas but over millennia scoured & compressed by sheets of ice a mile thick. On hundreds of islands around a saw-edged coastline communities flourished linked to each other & the wider world by the sea the transport superhighway of ancient times. It was a place of challenges & opportunity. A place we know today as Scotl&. Over the past 10 000 years every inch of Scotland
- whether remote hilltop fertile floodplain or storm-lashed coastline
- has been shaped changed & moulded by its people. No part of the land is without its human story. From Orkneys immaculately preserved Neolithic villages to Highland glens stripped of nineteenth century settlements from a Skye peninsula converted to an ingenious Viking shipyard to a sheer Hebridean clifftop used as the site of a spectacular lighthouse Scotlands history is written into its landscapes in vivid detail. Scotlands Landscapes" tells the enduring story of this interaction between man & his environment. stunning new imagery from the National Collection of Aerial Photography comes together to build up a picture of a dramatic terrain forged by thousands of years of incredible change. These are Scotlands landscapes as you have never seen or understood them before."



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The hills & glens & wild coastline of Scotland s Highlands & Islands offer the ultimate escape one of the last corners of Europe where you can discover genuine solitude. Neil Wilson Lonely Planet Writer Our Promise You can trust our travel information because Lonely Planet authors visit the places we write about each & every edition. We never accept freebies for positive coverage so you can rely on us to tell it like it is. Inside This Book 1 author 53 maps 71 islands Countless scenes of striking beauty Inspirational photos Clear easy-to-use maps Detailed walk routes In-depth background Comprehensive planning tools Easy-to-read layout ...

A guidebook to the rich mix of summer scrambling rock climbing & winter mountaineering on Scotland's ridges from the remote Cairngorms to the splendour of the Cuillin. Graceful carved walkways slung between summits twisted spines of stone
- ridges can be the most beautiful of mountain landforms. With elegant lines & giddy exposure ridge climbs emit a powerful siren call drawing us out onto the rocks. Life on the edge has a special quality born of the contrast of empty space all around & intricate detail in close-up. The crests are strangely irresistible. Scotland's ridges are among the finest mountaineering lines in the country every one a unique adventure. The variety of these routes reflects the breadth of the mountain experience: a rich mix of summer scrambles technical rock & challenging winter climbs. This book covers both the popular classics & some obscure gems aiming to celebrate these thrilling climbs as much as to document them. Along the way it explores landscapes of magnificent diversity ranging from the remote desolation of the Cairngorms to the seaside splendour of the Cuillin the great trench of Glencoe to the surreal exhibitionism of the far north. The chosen selection spans the grade range with routes to suit all levels of ability. Whether an earthbound hillwalker or an accomplished climber Scotland's ridges cannot fail to stir your imagination.
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Following the success of Scotland's Coast acclaimed landscape photographer Joe Cornish trained his lens on another outstanding feature of the country for which he holds so much affection
- its mountains. He sets out to capture the unique character of each range from the soaring peaks of the Southern Highlands to the fortress-like Torridonian & Assynt hills in the far north; from the Cuillin of Skye almost Alpine in character in the west to the lofty Cairngorms with their windswept plateaus & jewel-like ice formations to the east. With a brilliant eye for a picture & a masterly use of light Joe depicts not only the peaks & ridges the cliffs & buttresses of each mountain range but the corresponding valleys & glens the deep lochs fast-flowing burns & spectacular waterfalls that are as integral to the landscape as the mountains themselves. Accompanying the photographs are Joe's fascinating accounts of his experiences in each region. He describes the physical & creative challenges he faced in order to capture the images & his reflections on the remarkable landscapes & features he encountered. The result is one of the most acutely observed engaging & inspirational portraits of Scotland's mountains ever published. It will delight not only Joe Cornish's numerous admirers but anyone who is drawn to this most magical of landscapes.
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Whilst documents & other written material are obvious resources that help shape our view of the past maps too can say much about a nations history. This is the first book to take maps seriously as a form of history from the earliest representations of Scotland by Ptolemy in the second century AD to the most recent form of Scotlands mapping & geographical representation in GIS satellite imagery & SATNAV. Compiled by three experts who have spent their lives working with maps Scotland: Mapping the Nation offers a fascinating & thought-provoking perspective on Scottish history which is beautifully illustrated with complete facsimiles & details of hundreds of the most significant manuscript & printed maps from the National Library of Scotland & other institutions including those by Timothy Pont Joan Blaeu & William Roy amongst many others. ...

History has always mattered to Scots & rarely more so than now at the outset of a new century with a new census appearing in 2011 & after more than ten years of a new parliament. An almost limitless archive of our history lies hidden inside our bodies & we carry the ancient story of Scotland around with us. The mushrooming of genetic studies of DNA analysis is rewriting our history in spectacular fashion. In Scotland: A Genetic Journey Alistair Moffat explores the history that is printed on our genes & in a remarkable new approach uncovers the detail of where we are from who we are & in so doing colour vividly a DNA map of Scotl&. ...