Since 1888, Rangers and Celtic football clubs have been locked into an intense and frequently explosive rivalry: Rangers the product of West Scotland's Protestant establishment, Celtic the team founded to raise money for the Catholic underclass of Glasgow. On 2 January 2010 the two teams met in the Old Firm's New Year Derby, a fixture that had been banned for ten years because of the trouble it brought with it. Richard Wilson puts that game at the centre of a book which delves into the history and widens out to the cultural resonance of the fixture within Scotland. It is a potent mix of close-up observation and big-picture thinking, with insight, understanding and depth. Fully updated to cover the latest Old Firm stories, including Rangers' dramatic collapse into administration.

Winner of the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild Award for Excellence: Outdoor Book 2019Chris Townsend embarks on a 700-mile walk along the spine of Scotland, the line of high ground where fallen rain runs either west to the Atlantic or east to the North Sea. Walking before the Independence Referendum of 2014, and writing after the EU Referendum of 2016, he reflects on: nature and history, conservation and rewilding, land use and literature, and change in a time of limitless potential for both better and worse.

Scotland: The Growing Divide is the follow-up to Scotland: The Road Divides, which was released in 2007 to significant media interest across the UK. A book ahead of its time, several of the conclusions and predictions in The Road Divides have now become a political reality. Five years on, and now facing a referendum on Scottish independence in autumn 2014, the authors focus on the changing face of politics and what that means for both Scotland and the UK. With a thorough discussion of the arguments reaching several provocative conclusions, this is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the future of this country. REVIEWS: As a response to the 'national conversation' initiated by Salmond this is an important book, and coming from a former Labour heavyweight it is, in its way, remarkable. It virtually concedes that the party that has dominated Scottish politics for the past 30 years, has lost its way, and that the old ideologies no longer count. THE TIMES[McLeish] has emerged as an advocate of a much bolder approach to devolution than many in his party seem ready for. EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS They are particularly scathing of Westminster's response to the debate... The authors note that the initial response was to point out that Westminster could take back powers from Holyrood. THE HERALD

This book addresses the question of the extent of and responses to inequalities in the UK in 2017 in the wake of the 2008 Great Recession and provides an up-to-date account of the distribution of inequalities, the evolving ways they are measured/addressed as well as the changing perception of inequalities by the general public and policy-makers.

This is a social and cultural history of Scotland's industrial rise and relative decline, concerned above all with the leaders and workers (industrial, political, manufacturing, mining and engineering, as well as religious, union, educational and moral) who produced the first and suffered in the second. Political, social and economic events, movements and trends are welded together in a well-ordered and vivid narrative. It assumes almost no prior knowledge, and introduces the reader gently to the central debates about the nature and course of modern Scottish History. The style is clear and spare - with frequent dry, witty asides; it will be ideal for the student, but will equally appeal to the general reader interested in modern Scottish history. It is illustrated with maps, photographs and drawings, with guides to further reading and a full index.Key Features* The first systematic and economic history of modern Scotland* A vivid chronological narrative account* Generously illustrated with contemporary illustrations

A compelling book that examines Gordon Brown's rise to power, his years as Chancellor, and his dramatic decision to give the Bank of England independence "An essential read for anyone who wants to properly understand political and economic policy developments over the past 15 years and enjoy some good insights about the future." Neil Kinnock, Vice President of the European Commission and former leader of the Labour Party. "For twenty years one of the most sceptical and authoritative voices on economic affairs in the British press." Robert Harris, best selling author. "A splendidly vivid account of the background, outlook and record of the most powerful Chancellor of modern times." Anthony Howard, biographer and political commentator. The economic policy of new Labour has been fundamental to its success. Gordon Brown has been at the very heart of new Labour's economic policy since the late 1980s and has been highly instrumental in convincing both the British public and the City that a Labour government can run the economy responsibly. He has generally been a popular and well-respected Chancellor - during his early years in office, he was highly praised for his prudence and yet now, well into the second term of office many of the issues on which the Blair government was elected, such as health and education, have not yet been satisfactorily addressed, and Gordon Brown is now being criticised for what many see as his imprudence in handling the nationâ??s finances. Examining how successful Labourâ??s economic policy has really been, when allowing for the good fortune of a world-wide economic boom, Keegan provides insights into the policies of new Labour, Gordon Brown's rise to power, the impact of his policies and how future policies might influence the economy. Written by a well-known and highly respected journalist who has been close to the heart of politics in Britain for many years, and who is thus able to offer an insiderâ??s view of how policy developed in both opposition and the Government Examines the professional relationships and private friction between Brown, other members of the Cabinet and the Bank of England Includes much previously unpublished material William Keegan is Associate Editor (since 1983) and Economics Editor (since 1977) of The Observer newspaper. A graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, he has previously held posts with the Financial Times, Daily Mail and Bank of England Economic Intelligence Department. He has sat on a range of advisory committees, including the BBC Advisory Committee on Business and Industrial Affairs, the Employment Institute Council and the Department of Economics Advisory Board, University of Cambridge. He is visiting Professor of Journalism at Sheffield University and is the author of a variety of successful books.