Wild History: Journeys into Lost Scotland by James Crawford

From the presenter of BBC Radio 4's Take Four Books

You scramble up over the dunes of an isolated beach. You climb to the summit of a lonely hill. You pick your way through the eerie hush of a forest.

And then you find them. The traces of the past. Perhaps they are marked by a tiny symbol on your map, perhaps not.

There are no plaques to explain their fading presence before you, nothing to account for what they once were ? who made them, lived in them or abandoned them. Now they are merged with the landscape. They are being reclaimed by nature.

They are wild history. In this book acclaimed author and presenter James Crawford introduces many such places all over the country, from the ruins of prehistoric forts and ancient, arcane burial sites, to abandoned bothies and boathouses, and the derelict traces of old, faded industry.

Shortlisted for The Great Outdoors Reader Awards

Longlisted for the Highland Book Prize

'Crawford travels widely to make his points in a text reminiscent of those of Barry Lopez or Robert Macfarlane... A thoughtful consideration of the imaginary lines that hold meaning for so many' - Kirkus Reviews

'Crawford's essays, through vivid accounts of historical episodes and contemporary problems, illuminate how the world acquired its current shape... Eye-opening' - Literary Review

Paperback
Publication: 3 Apr 2025, Birlinn 
ISBN: 9781780279268
Extent: 272 pages