Isobel Murray

Early in Orcadia was first published in 1987, and consists of five stories, set hundreds of years apart in time and dealing with different characters, but connected by their location in a particular corner of Orkney during the period known as the Stone Age. Mitchison links them formally by interpolating passages of fact and explanation between the fictional episodes, and by speculating in her own voice about what happened in prehistory, as far as it can be known from archaeological research, and how it fits in with the world of today. The slightly awkward jumps from one story to the next indicate that the development of the human race was not a completely smooth and seamless process. There must have been significant moments when a highly important discovery or invention took place. The structure of the book is demonstrating its theme - that there are sudden advances but just one story running from the earliest times to the present day, and it is the story of humankind. From the Introduction.

Jim Baxter - the legendary 'Slim Jim' - was arguably Scotland's greatest-ever footballer, a left-footed genius who became a Rangers icon and helped Scotland humiliate world champions England at Wembley in 1967 - with some famous keepie-uppie along the way. And although much has been written about Slim Jim over the years, the real story behind his life is now revealed for the first time. When Jim Baxter joined Rangers in 1960 for a record fee of £17,500, he quickly proved his worth, helping the team to ten trophies over the next five years. It was the start of a glittering career and a hard-drinking, hard-living lifestyle in the big city, where he fully enjoyed the fruits of his success. But behind the glamour on and off the park, Jim Baxter hid a secret that would torment him for most of his life, a secret he only discovered the full truth about when he was fifty years old. What is beyond doubt is that Slim Jim Baxter will forever be revered for his unbelievable footballing talent. He will also be remembered for his ability to live life to the full and beyond. But had he uncovered the truth earlier about the family secret that left him shattered, the life of this footballing genius might have been very different both on and off the pitch.

Jessie Kesson is forever associated with her first novel, the fictionalised autobiography of her early years, The White Bird Passes. Born illegitimate in a Workhouse and raised in an Elgin slum, she was removed from her beloved but neglectful mother and sent to an orphanage in Kirkton of Skene. There she throve and shone, but was refused any chance of higher education, and ended up a year in a mental hospital. After marriage, she became a cottar wife around North East Scotland, before moving to London, where she combined writing novels and radio plays with jobs from cleaning a cinema to producing Woman's Hour. The first edition of her authorised biography won the National Library of Scotland/Saltire Research Book of the Year in 2000. It revealed an extraordinary woman making her life and art out of all life threw at her, overcoming and transforming it all. This second edition at last reveals the truth about her ever-absent father, here named.