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Edinburgh

The Autobiography

Ed. Alan Taylor
Beautiful yet forbidding, the Scottish capital has been home to many writers and thinkers over the centuries. This anthology presents a history of the city in the words of its inhabitants, selected from letters, diaries, novels and journalism, from the sixth-century poet Anuerin to Ian Rankin and including Walter Scott celebrating its pageantry, Robert Louis Stevenson exploring its sinister alleys, and Muriel Spark satirizing its snobbery and puritanism.
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RRP £20.00

£7.99

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Product information:
  • Publisher: Birlinn
  • Year: 2024
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 366pp
  • Illustrated: No
  • Dimensions: 240x160mm
  • ISBN: 9781780278827
  • Condition: New
  • Weight: 0.6kg
Product code:
545559
Product information
Full publisher description
From one of the earliest mentions of its name in the sixth century to the Covid lockdowns of the twenty-first, this is a magnificent portrait of one of the world's great cities in its many iterations, from 'Edinburgh, the sink of abomination' to the Athens of the North and everything - including the home of the Enlightenment, the Festival City, the Aids Capital of Europe and a Mecca for tourists seeking tartan tat - in between.



As the nation's capital it has been critical to its progress and a witness to epochal events, such the tumultuous reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, the Reformation, the Forty-Five rebellion, the Disruption of the Church of Scotland and the reconvening of the Scottish Parliament. All of these and more feature. But this is not simply a book about the great and good, the famous and infamous. There is testimony aplenty from ordinary folk who may not have made their mark on history but who have contributed to Edinburgh's ever-expanding tapestry.



There are stories of body snatching and murder, drunkenness and drug-taking, sex and shopping, as well rants against inclement weather and the city council.
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