The journalist reveals the scandal behind Scotland’s Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial and the questionable conviction of a Libyan terror suspect. The Lockerbie bombing of 1988 remains one of the most notorious acts of terrorism to be perpetrated in the United Kingdom. Its political and foreign policy repercussions have been enormous. Decades later, debate still rages over the conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, as well as his controversial release in 2009 on compassionate grounds. In Scotland’s Shame, journalist and researcher John Ashton argues that the guilty verdict, delivered by some of Scotland's most senior judges, was perverse and irrational. He details how prosecutors withheld numerous items of evidence that were favorable to Megrahi. It accuses successive Scottish governments of turning their back on the scandal and pretending that the country's treasured independent criminal justice system remains untainted.

In one of the most controversial lectures of recent times, Scotland's foremost composer, James MacMillan, accused his country of being a land of `sleep-walking bigotry' where visceral anti-Catholicism' disfigures national life. Pandora's Box, it turned out, had been opened in truly spectacular fashion. By his remarks, the media became obsessed with the issue and for weeks Scotland's broadsheets were crammed with columns and letters exploring all aspects of the topic. Clearly MacMillan had touched a nerve. Was Scotland really `Northern Ireland without the guns and bullets'? Although the debate was intense, however, few contributions rose above the level of swapping competing anecdotes. More heat then light was generated in the process. It soon became clear there was a crying need for more reflective assessments and for hard evidence to confirm or deny the many assertions made in the course of the discussion. Scotland's Shame is the first book since the MacMillan lecture to tackle the issues he raised head on. A team consisting of the best writers, researchers and academics in the field has produced a readable volume which is accessible in approach to everyone interested in the subject. Their conclusions will often surprise and intrigue.

The question of sectarianism in Scotland belongs within a wider framework than it has hitherto been placed. It offers insights into continuing, indeed pressing, debates about religious identity and civil and political society in the modern world. This book questions the view that religion and politics do not, and cannot, mix in pluralistic, tolerant and increasingly secular societies, and reveals that memories - bitter memories - can outlive, and obscure, the demise of actual conflict.

Introduction : is Scotland sectarian? --1.nineteenth century --2.thirties --3.present --4.Ulster, football and violence --5.Why bigotry failed.

Ewen Cameron explores the political debate between unionism, liberalism, socialism and nationalism, and the changing political relationship between Scotland and the United Kingdom. He sets Scottish experience alongside the Irish, Welsh and European, and considers British dimensions of historical change--involvement in two world wars, imperial growth and decline, for example - from a Scottish perspective. He relates political events to trends and movements in the economy, culture and society of the nation's regions--borders, lowlands, highlands, and islands. Underlying the history, and sometimes impelling its ambitions, are the evolution and growth of national self-confidence and identity which fundamentally affected Scotland's destiny in the last century. Dr Cameron ends by considering how such forces may transform it in this one. Like the period it describes this book has politics at its heart. The recent upsurge of scholarship and publication, backed by the author's extensive primary research, underpin its vivid and well-paced narrative.

'Thaim wi a guid Scots tongue in their heid are fit tae gang ower the warld' In The Scottish World, renowned broadcaster Billy Kay takes us on a global journey of discovery, highlighting the extraordinary influence the Scots have had on communities and cultures on almost every continent. While others have questioned the self-confidence of the Scots, Kay has travelled the world from Bangkok to Brazil, Warsaw to Waikiki and found ringing endorsements for the integrity and intellect, the poetry and passion of the Scottish people in every country he has visited. He expands people's view of Scotland by relating remarkable stories of the wealthy Scottish merchant community in Gdansk; of national geniuses of Scots descent, such as Lermontov in Russia and Grieg in Norway; of an American Civil War blamed on Sir Walter Scott and initiated in the St Andrew's Society of Charleston; of inspirational missionaries in Calabar and Budapest; of Scotch professors establishing football in soccer strongholds such as Barcelona and São Paulo; of pioneers like Sandeman and Cockburn, and the Scottish roots of many of the great wines of Europe; and of their amazing involvement in liberation movements in Malawi, Chile, Peru, Greece, Corsica and India. The Scottish World is a celebration of the enormous contribution the Scots have made to the modern world.

Scottish creative writing in the twentieth century was notable for its willingness to explore and absorb the literatures of other times and other nations. From the engagement with Russian literature of Hugh MacDiarmid and Edwin Morgan, through to the interplay with continental literary theory, Scottish writers have proved active participants in a diverse international literary practice. Scottish criticism has, arguably, often been slow in appreciating the full extent of this exchange. Preoccupied with marking out its territory, with identifying an independent and distinctive tradition, Scottish criticism has occasionally blinded itself to the diversity and range of its writers. In stressing the importance of cultural independence, it has tended to overlook the many virtues of interdependence. The essays in this book aim to offer a corrective view. They celebrate the achievement of Scottish writing in the twentieth century by offering a wider basis for appreciation than a narrow idea of 'Scottishness'. Each essay explores an aspect of Scottish writing in an individual foreign perspective; together they provide an enriching account of a national literary practice that has deep, and often surprisingly complex, roots in international culture.