Birlinn Limited was established in 1992 by Managing Director Hugh Andrew, and is comprised of a number of imprints. The Birlinn imprint publishes Scottish and general UK interest books, from biography to history, military history, sport and Scottish Gaelic. Children’s books are also included in this list. The name comes from the old Norse word ‘birlinn’, meaning a long boat or small galley used especially in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland in the Middle Ages.
In this thought-provoking and alarming book, veteran China specialist and foreign correspondent Ian Williams examines how China’s aggressive foreign policy is arguably the biggest threat to our security and is a problem that not just the West – but the rest of the world – ignores at its peril.
When Mary Curran became suspicious of hairdresser Jessie Jordan’s frequent trips to Nazi Germany in 1937, she could not have known that she would become one of the world’s most successful amateur spycatchers. This is her untold true story, the story of how a Nazi spy’s letter, intercepted in Scotland, broke spy rings across Europe and America.
The Bruces of fourteenth-century Scotland were formidable and enthusiastic warriors. Packed with detail and written with a strong and involving narrative thread, this is the first book to link up the various theatres of war and discuss the effect of the wars of the Bruces outside Scotland.
Trevor Royle examines Scotland's role in the Second World War from a wide range of perspectives. The country's geographical position gave it great strategic importance for importing war materiel and...
On the brink of the First World War, Scotland was regarded throughout the British Isles as 'the workshop of the Empire'. Not only were Clyde-built ships known the world over, Scotland produced half...
Trevor Royle gives a gripping and unique perspective of the Cold War which shows how Scotland would have been a major theatre of war in the event of WWIII. Includes recently declassified official information and interviews with many key figures, including UK Secretaries of State for Defence and senior officers from the Navy, Army and Air Force.
New, updated edition in advance of the unveiling of a statue of Wojtek next to the Scott Monument, Edinburgh, in May 2014. Journalist and historian Neal Ascherson reflects on the Polish experience in the Second World War. Wojtek has memorials at the Imperial War Museum, London, Edinburgh Zoo and in Canada, and he is a national hero in Poland
Now in paperback, this is the first major assessment of Britain's role in creating the instability that still reigns in the middle-east. Using primary and secondary sources, Reid charts the lines in the sand that mark the uncertain beginnings of the region, the discovery of oil and the political wrangling that would forever tear the region apart.
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Birlinn Limited was established in 1992 by Managing Director Hugh Andrew, and is comprised of a number of imprints. The Birlinn imprint publishes Scottish and general UK interest books, from biography to history, military history, sport and Scottish Gaelic. Children’s books are also included in this list. The name comes from the old Norse word ‘birlinn’, meaning a long boat or small galley used especially in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland in the Middle Ages. 
