author : Ian Crofton

Stimulating and authoritative, covering the whole world of knowledge.

Illustrated throughout in full-colour with photogtaphs and paintings, together with specially commissioned maps and diagrams.

Over 300 double-page spreads explore key topics in depth.

Arranged thematically into subject areas.

Detailed information on each of the world’s 172 countries.

Extensive index and thorough cross-reference system.

Over 160 distinguished advisory editors and contributors

This new edition features many expanded entries, as well as completely new ones – including Big Tam, the Third Forth Bridge, the Loony Dook and the War of the One-eyed Woman. The result is a kaleidoscopic snapshot of the Scottish nation, both past and present, from the mythical origins of the Scots in ancient Scythia to the foibles of modern Follyrood, from Sawney Bean to Oor Wullie, from ‘The end of an old song’ to ‘Aw fur coat and nae knickers’, from The Heart of Midlothian to ‘Ye cannae shove yer granny aff a bus’.

In more than 4,500 such entries, A Dictionary of Scottish Phrase and Fable weaves an endlessly entertaining tapestry incorporating the texture and fabric of a nation’s ever-shifting sense of itself.