Before Scotland
The Story of Scotland Before History
Alistair Moffat
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| ‘A sweeping and epic story … powerful and thought- provoking’ | | – The Evening Telegraph, Dundee |
| ‘A wonderful book that cannot fail to convey to the reader the author’s expert enthusiasm for Scotland’s past’ | | – Oxbow News |
| ‘Wildly original and hugely exciting … so whether you’re a Scot or not, read this book and meet your ancestors!’ | | – Zero |
The story of the land that became Scotland is one of dramatic geological events and impressive human endeavour.
Alistair Moffat’s gripping narrative begins when icebreak and meltwater at the close of the Ice Age produced the familiar Scottish geography of mountains, glens, flatlands and coasts. Bands of hunters moved north, many of whom probably crossed from the vividly evoked lost peninsula of Doggerland.
Around 5800 BC a tidal wave flooded Doggerland and smashed into the eastern coast of Scotland. By 3800 BC farmers had become established, creating remarkable timber halls – whose remains have newly come to light – and later the great standing stones at Callanish, the Ring of Brodgar and elsewhere. As Alistair Moffat shows, henges and the worship associated with them originated not at Stonehenge but in the north.
North Britain began to change into Scotland with the success of the Gaelic kings of Argyll and by AD 900 King Constantine II had consolidated the ambitions of the Scots to create the basis of the polity that has come down to us.
With a light touch the author displays his breadth of knowledge, interweaving the narrative with special features on topics such as cave drawings of dancing girls, natural birth control, the myth of Atlantis and the Zoroastrian Towers of Silence – all of them valuable, sometimes quirky, additions to the picture.
Alistair Moffat is a well-known writer and television presenter and producer. He was Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the period when it grew into the largest arts festival in the world. He now runs his own independent television company. Alistair Moffat’s many books include Arthur and the Lost Kingdoms, The Sea Kingdoms – The Story of Celtic Britain and Ireland, and The Borders: A History of the Borders from Earliest Times.
Also of interest:
Scotland: A Concise History Revised and Updated Edition
The Scots: A Photohistory
Scottish Architecture
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|  |  | | | | ISBN 050005133X | | ISBN-13 978-0500051337 | | | | 23.4 x 15.6 cm | | Hardback | | 352pp | | 22 illustrations, 22 in colour,plus 2 maps | | First published 2005 | | | | £18.95 | | | |  | | | | 
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