Scotland : her story : the nation's history by the women who lived it

Scotland’s history has been told many times, but never exclusively by its women. This book takes a unique perspective on dramatic national events as well as ordinary life, as experienced by women down the centuries. From the saintly but severe medieval Queen Margaret to today's first minister Nicola Sturgeon, it encompasses women from all stations of class and fame and notoriety, offering a tantalising view of what happened to them, and how they felt. Drawing on court and kirk records, exchequer rolls and treasurer’s accounts, diaries and memoirs, chap books and newspapers, government reports and eye-witness statements, Scotland: Her Story brings to life the half of history that has for too long been hidden or ignored. Features material by from a hugely diverse range of authors, including:The Maid of Norway • Princess Matilda • St Margaret • Margaret Tudor • Mary, Queen of Scots • Lady Grizel Baillie • Elsie Inglis • Mary Slessor • Catherine Dickens • Jane Carlyle • Madeline Smith • Catherine Carswell • Willa Muir • Nan Shepherd • Muriel Gray • Sue Black • Sally Magnusson • The Queen Mother • Rona Cameron • Elaine C. Smith • Evelyn Glennie • Jessie Kesson • Winnie Ewing • Muriel Spark • Tilda Swinton • Liz Lochhead • Lulu • Janice Galloway • Jackie Kay • Ali Smith • Liz McColgan • Mhairi Black • Judy Murray • Nicola Benedetti • Nicola Sturgeon Scotland's history has been told many times, but never exclusively by its women. This book takes a unique perspective on dramatic national events as well as ordinary life, as experienced by women down the centuries. From the saintly but severe medieval Queen Margaret to today's first minister Nicola Sturgeon, it encompasses women from all stations of class and fame and notoriety, offering a tantalising view of what happened to them, and how they felt. Drawing on court and kirk records, exchequer rolls and treasurer's accounts, diaries and memoirs, chap books and newspapers, government reports and eye-witness statements, Scotland: Her Story brings to life the half of history that has for too long been hidden or ignored. Features material by from a hugely diverse range of authors, including: Princess Matilda • St Margaret • Margaret Tudor • Mary, Queen of Scots • Lady Grizel Baillie • Elsie Inglis • Mary Slessor • Jane Carlyle • Marie Stopes • Nan Shepherd • Leila Aboulela • Winnie Ewing • Muriel Spark • Liz Lochhead • Jackie Kay • Ali Smith • Nicola Sturgeon "An unqualified triumph."--Alexander McCall SmithA vivid, wide-ranging, and engrossing account of Scotland's history, composed of timeless stories by those who experienced it first-hand. Contributors range from Tacitus, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Oliver Cromwell to Adam Smith, David Livingstone, and Billy Connolly. These include not only historic moments-from Bannockburn to the opening of the new Parliament in 1999-but also testimonies like that of the eight-year-old factory worker who was dangled by his ear out of a third-floor window for making a mistake, the survivors of the 1746 Battle of Culloden, who wished perhaps that they had died on the field, John Logie Baird, inventor of television, and great writers including Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and the editor of Encyclopedia Britannica. From the battlefield to the sports field, this is living, accessible history told by criminals, servants, housewives, poets, journalists, nurses, prisoners, comedians, and many more