Donald Greig

Part of Bradt's distinctive, award-winning series of 'Slow' travel guides to UK regions, the new, extensively updated third edition of Dumfries & Galloway (Slow Travel) is the sole full-blown guidebook to this beguiling southwest corner of Scotland. With intimate detail and insider tips from two southern Scotland experts, it reveals one of the country's best-kept secrets through lively descriptions, historical anecdotes and hand-picked accommodation recommendations. Dumfries and Galloway is ever more alluring to discerning visitors in search of grand views, peace and isolation, bustling harbourside towns, craft shops and galleries, cafés and restaurants, mountains and coast, wildlife and outdoor pursuits. all ingredients for a successful UK break. Even the weather defies expectation, the far west being warmed by the Gulf Stream so gardens harbour palm trees and southern hemisphere plants. The region is explored in depth, from Eskdale in the east to Scotland's southern tip at the Mull of Galloway, via Annandale, Nithsdale, Dumfries, The Stewartry, The Machars and Moors, and The Rhins. Visit Scotland's highest village (with the country's highest micro-brewery) in the morning, a deserted sandy beach in the afternoon, and a Dark Sky Park, gazing at the stars, in the evening. Wildlife lovers will be in their element as all of Scotland's 'big five' iconic species can be seen: golden eagle, red squirrel, harbour seal, red deer and European otter. In the surrounding waters look out for minke whales, harbour porpoise and dolphins, while Caerlaverock at the eastern end of the region plays host each year to the staggering annual spectacle of thousands of barnacle geese settling on the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve. Human-related curiosities complement natural wonder. Samye Ling was the first Tibetan monastery established in the west; the Famous Blacksmith's Shop at Gretna Green still hosts a thousand marriages a year - and not just eloping couples either; Hallmuir Chapel is a WWII Ukrainian place of worship in the Dumfriesshire Dales; and Dumfries itself contains the house where Robert Burns, Scotland's national bard, spent his last three years. Whatever your interest, Bradt's Dumfries & Galloway (Slow Travel) is the ideal companion for a successful trip.

Much quieter than the nearby Lake District. This book features 40 short walks exploring the best the area has to offer. Look one way and marvel at the majesty of The Lake District's magnificent peaks, the other to find tranquil sea views of the Isle of Man and Southern Scotland (weather permitting).

Studies of pre-existing music in narrative cinema often focus on a single film, composer or director. The approach here adopts a wider perspective, placing a specific musical repertoire - baroque music - in the context of its reception to explore its mobilisation in post-war cinema. It shows how various revivals have shaped musical fashion, and how cinema has drawn on resultant popularity and in turn contributed to it. Close analyses of various films raise issues of baroque musical style and form to question why eighteenth-century music remains an exception to dominant film-music discourses. Account is taken of changing modern performance practice and its manifestation in cinema, particularly in the biopic. This question of the reimagining of baroque repertoire leads to consideration of pastiches and parodies to which cinema has been particularly drawn, and subsequently to the role that neobaroque music has played in more recent films.

Written by resident experts, this new, thoroughly updated second edition of Bradt's Dumfries and Galloway remains the only full-blown guide to this increasingly popular southwest corner of Scotland. The region is covered in depth, from Eskdale in the east to Scotland's southern tip at the Mull of Galloway, via Annandale, Nithsdale, Dumfries, The Stewartry, The Machars and Moors, and the Rhins. Lively descriptions, historical anecdotes and enthusiastic writing combine with hand-picked accommodation recommendations to reveal one of Scotland's best kept secrets. New attractions and features covered in this edition include Kirkcudbright Galleries, an increased focus on wildlife and birdwatching, and a round-up of the many distilleries and breweries in the region. There are also specialist contributions covering everything from smoking fish and meat, creating a Himalayan garden in the hills of the Southern Uplands, conservation along the Solway coast, and the sport of curling. New walks and a good range of hotels and restaurants not previously included have also been added. Dumfries and Galloway is proving ever-more alluring to discerning visitors in search of grand views, peace and isolation, bustling harbourside towns, craft shops and galleries, cafes and restaurants, mountains and coast, wildlife and outdoor pursuits. all the ingredients for a successful UK break. Even the weather can defy expectation, for the far west is warmed by the Gulf Stream and gardens here are replete with palm trees and southern hemisphere plants. You can be at Scotland's highest village in the morning, on a deserted sandy beach in the afternoon, and in Europe's first Dark Sky Park, gazing at the stars, in the evening. Wildlife lovers will also be in their element as all of Scotland's 'big five' iconic species can be seen: golden eagle, red squirrel, harbour seal, red deer and European otter. In the surrounding waters look out for minke whales, porpoise and dolphins, while Caerlaverock at the eastern end of the region plays host each year to the staggering annual spectacle of thousands of barnacle geese settling on the WWT reserve. No matter your interest, Bradt's Dumfries and Galloway is an ideal companion for a successful trip.

Made up of the old counties of Wigtownshire and The Stewartry, Galloway covers a vast swathe of Scotland's quiet southwest corner. This under-discovered area offers 260km of coast, full of sandy beaches and towering cliffs, lonely heather-clad moors and quiet hills. Add to this plenty of wildlife, a rich artistic heritage, strong spiritual influences and a climate kissed by the warming Gulf Stream, and you have a region beckoning to be visited. Darren Flint and Donald Greig's hand-picked selection of 40 walks reveals the sheer variety of landscapes that makes Galloway so special - from the Mull of Galloway, Scotland's most southerly point, to the sweeping Nith Estuary, via Merrick, South Scotland's highest hill and plenty of hidden corners.

The three Dumfriesshire dales of Nithsdale, Annandale and Eskdale are a rural playground of heatherclad hills, linns with tumbling waterfalls, babbling rivers and evershifting merse and firth.

Suffolk has long been a place of retreat, somewhere to escape to, far from everyday life. It may have its busier town centres, but in the main Suffolk remains a rural area of enormous variety , from heather covered heathland to softly rolling hills, long shingle spits to genteel coastal enclaves and kiss-me-quick seaside resorts.

Andrew Eiger, an ambitious American musicologist, is stuck in a small college in the Midwest when fate delivers him an original fifteenth-century manuscript. It’s his calling card to the finest academic institutions, but first he has to crack the notational code and convince Emma Mitchell – the dynamic conductor of the renowned early-music group, Beyond Compère – to share his vision of the composition’s glittering premiere. But who wrote it? The true story is yet to be discovered, hidden in a memoir that describes the treachery of the famous Josquin Desprez. Deftly blending farce with acute knowledge of life as a performer, Donald Greig’s impressive first novel is a thrilling behind-the-scenes tale set in the world of classical music. Witty and informative, it skilfully refracts the present day through the prism of the past, weaving themes of memory, ambition, friendship and love.

Andrew Eiger, an ambitious American musicologist, is stuck in a small college in the Midwest when fate delivers him an original fifteenth-century manuscript. It’s his calling card to the finest academic institutions, but first he has to crack the notational code and convince Emma Mitchell – the dynamic conductor of the renowned early-music group, Beyond Compère – to share his vision of the composition’s glittering premiere. But who wrote it? The true story is yet to be discovered, hidden in a memoir that describes the treachery of the famous Josquin Desprez. Deftly blending farce with acute knowledge of life as a performer, Donald Greig’s impressive first novel is a thrilling behind-the-scenes tale set in the world of classical music. Witty and informative, it skilfully refracts the present day through the prism of the past, weaving themes of memory, ambition, friendship and love.