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| The Book Festival |
In amongst all the lovely big white marquees in Charlotte Square, you might notice a small orange, two-man tent. This is Birlinn HQ at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. We’re joking, of course, but it does seem as if we move lock, stock and barrel to the EIBF every year to support all our lovely authors, and this year will be no exception!
History fans are extremely well catered for this year with MSP Struan Stevenson talking about Russia under Putin, ahead of his new book Stalin’s Legacy, on Sunday, 26 August (now sold out). Cartophiles (that’s map lovers) can get their fix with Christopher Fleet on 13 August. Christopher is one of three authors of Scotland: Mapping the Nation, which was hugely popular in hardback and looks to be even more popular in paperback (available for the festival). And Birlinn stalwart Alistair Moffat will be revealing the hidden history of Scotland we all carry around with us in our DNA in The Scots: A Genetic Journey on 14 August (now sold out).
And if your history fan is a little bit younger we heartily recommend taking them along to see Allan Burnett on Tuesday, 14 August at 3.30 p.m. His And All That … series is a hilarious introduction some of the big names in Scottish history, including Bonnie Prince Charlie, Robert the Bruce, Mary Queen of Scots and Macbeth. Allan is a brilliant – and extremely enthusiastic – communicator of history and we generally come back from his events exhausted but much better informed! You have been warned …
In our modern world conflict is never far away. John Ashton was a researcher for the legal team of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the only person convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. He has uncovered evidence in the course of his research which throws doubt not only on Megrahi’s conviction but also the subsequent furore surrounding his appeals. John will be talking about his book Megrahi: You Are My Jury, The Lockerbie Evidence on 11 August in a discussion with Hans Köchler, the UN's official observer at the Lockerbie trial and Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the tragedy.
Max Benitz grew up surrounded by his father’s memorabilia of his time in the Scots Guards. He decided to find out what the day to day life, away from the headline and protests, for the average soldier in Afghanistan. He spent eighteen months with his father’s regiment in tanning and in Afghanistan and his book Six Months Without Sundays is a poignant, funny and thought-provoking piece of work from such a young writer. Join Max on 17 August when he will be talking about Afghanistan with veteran broadcaster Sandy Gall.
But if all that sounds too serious there is one man guaranteed to raise a laugh at the Book Festival. Bob Servant is a hero for our time, taking on email spammers promising everything from love to lions. About to become a star of television and radio, Bob’s creator Neil Forsyth brings us up to date with his meteoric rise to fame on 15 August. And for foodies, Mary Contini of Valvona & Crolla – the legendary Italian deli – takes us through The Italian Sausage Bible on 11 August. No drooling at the back.
Our noisy wee sister imprint will be along shortly to shout about her authors, but information on all our events can be found at www.birlinn.co.uk. Enjoy!
Published today is the autobiography of one of the most colourful, most outspoken and one of the most deeply principled MPs. His career of 43 years saw him be the thorn in the side of several Prime Ministers, even i fhe never got a front bench political career. But Tam Dalyell's name was rarely out of the headlines.
An outspoken critic of both Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, his vehement criticism of the sinking of the Belgrano during the Falklands conflict, the Gulf War of 1990 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003, he has also been a leading figure in the attempt to uncover the truth about the Lockerbie bombing. His memoir, based on personal papers as well as official documents – many of them only recently declassified – looks back over a lifetime of dedicated service as MP for West Lothian and Linlithgow and covers his family connections to the area for almost 400 years.
Sir Thomas Dalyell Loch of The Binns, 11th Baronet – better known as Tam Dalyell – was born in Edinburgh in 1932 and inherited the Baronetcy of the Binns via his mother in 1972. Educated at the Edinburgh Academy and Eton College, he did his National Service with the Royal Scots Greys from 1950 to 1952 as an ordinary trooper having failed his officer training. He studied History and Economics at King's College, Cambridge, where he was Chairman of the Conservative Association. Following teacher training at Moray House College in Edinburgh, Tam taught at a non-selective school and a ship school. He joined the Labour Party in 1956 after the Suez Crisis and became an MP in 1962, defeating William Wolfe of the Scottish National Party. Tam was an MP in the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005, first for West Lothian and then for Linlithgow. He became Father of the House after the 2001 General Election, when Sir Edward Heath retired, and was a Member of the European Parliament from 1975 to 1979 and a member of the Labour National Executive from 1986 to 1987 for the Campaign group. In 2003 Tam was elected Rector of the University of Edinburgh.
The Importance of Being Awkward: The Autobiography of Tam Dalyell is published today, 17th August, £25 hbk. Tam will be appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this evening.
The theme of EIBF 2011 is revolution, and if you’re holding out for a hero we can help. In the 1930s rich young men tended to buy islands as weekend getaways. Not so John Lorne Campbell who bought Canna to try and preserve its Gaelic traditions before handing it to the National Trust for Scotland. Ray Perman’s biography – The Man Who Gave Away His Island, the only one on John Lorne Campbell – tells of his dreams and struggles. The rights and wrongs of land ownership is a subject close the heart of Andy Wightman whose superb The Poor Had No Lawyers explores how millions of acres of common land ended in the hands of a chosen few.
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| Robin Harper |
Politicians are not always universally considered heroes, but as the first Green parliamentarian Robin Harper has certainly cleared a path for others to follow, as he describes in his Technicolor autobiography Dear Mr Harper. Tam Dalyell is a hero to some, to others ... well, probably best not to ask. Let’s just say the title of his much-anticipated autobiography The Importance of Being Awkward says it all. Everyone who fought for freedom in World War II was a hero, but Allan Burnett chooses just a few true tales of heroism in his latest book for children. And a hero for our time if there ever was one is Bob Servant, the hilarious alter ego of Neil Forsyth, who takes on email spammers at their own game.
