Scottish History Without the Boring Bits: A Chronicle of the Curious, the Eccentric, the Atrocious and the Unlikely

by Ian Crofton

Under Crofton's collector's eye, the rollicking spirit of Scotland, old and modern, comes proudly alive' - Sunday Herald Scottish History without the Boring Bits offers a colourful melange of the bawdy, the bloody, the horrific and the hilarious episodes and characters that have spattered the pages of our nation's story. From the War of the One-Eyed Woman to the MP cleared of stealing his ex-mistress's knickers, Ian Crofton presents a host of little-known tales that you won't find in more conventional works of history. The story starts in the 4th millennium BC with the expulsion from Eden of the first Scot. It then makes its way via the medieval bishop roasted in butter and the appearance of the Devil in Ayrshire disguised as a lady's lapdog, right up to the twenty-first century, when US intelligence identified a distillery on Islay as a possible threat to world peace. So forget the usual parade of what James Bridie called 'Wallace-the-Bruceism' and 'Charlie-over-the-waterism'. That's all history. Here, for the first time, is the story of Scotland as it's never been told before. Praise for Ian Crofton's A Dictionary of Scottish Phrase and Fable: 'The kind of book you find yourself immersed in long after you should have put it down' Times Literary Supplement

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Scotland

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 14, 2015

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

oh scotland, please never change.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Digestive and very accessible reference book full of historical wtf moments, assassinations, universal human stupidity and recounted anecdotal moments where the walls between history and folklore blur quite a bit. Crofton's book takes us all the way up to 2015 where there's a lovely entry which would cover the atrocious part of the title quite nicely.

One of the strengths of this book is that it tends to sideline Bruce, the majority of the Stuart monarchy, the Jacobites and focuses instead on everything else surrounding them. Really refreshing change for a history book

I did find the earlier entries covering the Viking invasions and Christie Cleek of particular interest.

[Tom Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky and quick read. I took it out the library (first library book I'd taken out in 15 years-!) one to dip into. Interesting accounts of witch hunts!

[Deborah-Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is often said that "truth is stranger than fiction" and this once again proves to be the case in this fast paced, comical, and bizarre book. Written in a newspaper headline format, this book addresses silly, weird, and hard to believe facts over the centuries. Although at times it is difficult to know where the line is drawn between Scottish folklore and well loved tales and what actually took place, this author will put you on a ride you can't get off. Definitely a difficult book to put down - I loved every minute of it and devoured this book less than one week after getting it.

[Μίλτος Τρ. · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Bus Book] Λίγα περιστατικά της ιστορίας της Σκωτίας έχουν πλάκα ή ενδιαφέρον, αλλά γενικά για λεωφορείο (όπου θέλω να διαβάζω κάτι που να μοιάζει περισσότερο με περιοδικό παρά με βιβλίο) είναι ΟΚ.