Who Built Scotland: Twenty-Five Journeys in Search of a Nation

What we build always reveals things that are deeply and innately human. Because all buildings are stories, one way or another.

Kathleen Jamie, Alexander McCall Smith, Alistair Moffat, James Robertson and James Crawford travel across the country to tell the story of the nation, from abandoned islands and lonely glens to the heart of our modern cities.

Whether visiting Shetland's Mousa Broch at midsummer, following in the footsteps of pilgrims to Iona Abbey, joining the tourist bustle at Edinburgh Castle, scaling the Forth Bridge or staying in an off-the-grid eco-bothy, the authors unravel the stories of the places, people and passions that have had an enduring impact on the landscape and character of Scotland.

Five first-class writers: 25 unique structures. What better way to address the vast scope of Scotland’s story, from the henge of Bathgate’s Cairnpapple Hill to the towering sixties edifice of Anniesland Court. Shedding the conventions of historical narrative, Who Built Scotland simmers with the passions of its writers, whether it’s Alexander McCall Smith on Edinburgh’s gloriously macabre Surgeon’s Hall, or Kathleen Jamie on Geldie Burn’s vanished lives.

'The quality of the writing is uniformly high... This is a very good book; edifying and, at times, revelatory' - The Herald