Ron Culley

For a relatively small nation, Scotland certainly hasn't been short of radicals. Over the centuries, the country has produced revolutionary and reforming ideas, ideals and behaviours that have changed the world we live in. From football to philosophy, from scientists to soldiers, Scots have made a huge and disproportionate contribution to world transformation. Inventors and medics, rock stars and comedians have all played their part in making Scotland and the world very different. Peace campaigners and warriors sit side by side within these pages; poets and politicians rub shoulders. Not all radicals can be successful and there are those whose dreams were never realised. But in these pages, one hundred and thirty-eight Scots, some known internationally, some unknown in their own street, find a home.

For a relatively small nation, Scotland certainly hasn't been short of radicals. Over the centuries, the country has produced revolutionary and reforming ideas, ideals and behaviours that have changed the world we live in. From football to philosophy, from scientists to soldiers, Scots have made a huge and disproportionate contribution to world transformation. Inventors and medics, rock stars and comedians have all played their part in making Scotland and the world very different. Peace campaigners and warriors sit side by side within these pages; poets and politicians rub shoulders. Not all radicals can be successful and there are those whose dreams were never realised. But in these pages, one hundred and thirty-eight Scots, some known internationally, some unknown in their own street, find a home.

Before WW2, the Labour Party held 'Home Rule for Scotland' as one of their fundamental principles. However following the end of the war and the unionism it engendered, notions of Scottish independence slipped down the political agenda until unionism edged it out completely. Formed in 1934 from a union of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party, the Scottish National Party began to demand a Scottish Parliament but until the 1960s the movement for Scottish independence achieved little success and was sustained only by symbolic victories, such as the repatriation in 1950 of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey. But as the century progressed, the aspiration of independence was on the rise in Scotland.This book chronicles the rise of the Scottish Independence movement from the end of WW2 to the turn of the century. It is a fact based novel that also attempts to typify the interventions of the British Security Services in frustrating that goal.

In 1985, Willie McRae, the lawyer and ex-Vice Chairman of the Scottish National Party was found on a lonely hillside near Loch Loyne in Scotland. He had survived a car crash but was later discovered to have a bullet in his brain. Was it self-inflicted as the authorities announced with considerable haste or was it state sponsored murder? ‘Firebrand’ explores all aspects of the shooting including the controversial political career of Willie McRae and poses questions seeking the possible motives which may have prompted his murder. McRae’s victories over the Atomic Energy Authority, his access to files accusing the Scottish Judiciary and the UK’s political elite, his war on drugs and his support of the Scottish National Liberation Army are all investigated. Interviews and statements from many of those involved on that fateful day are included and photographic evidence is provided which raise considerable doubts as to the safety of the Crown’s assertions.

Scottish politics is in stalemate. A growing sense of disquiet with Westminster rule is frustrated as no permission is granted by London for a second referendum on Scottish Independence. One man decides to take action and disables a military convoy taking nuclear warheads south from Scotland in order that they can undergo maintenance. His success prompts more acts of civil disobedience and before long he has become a cause célèbre. The security services are ordered to find and dispose of the man they call ‘Dalriada’. Scotland rises in support as his acts become more audacious.

Substantial amounts of 'dark money' provided to British Unionists from unknown sources and used for illegal political purposes in order to subvert the right of Scots to choose independence, is awash in Scotland. A Scottish islander from Benbecula finds himself immersed in a series of criminal plots to defeat the Scots' drive for independence. Facing the might of the British security services and the concerted efforts of those financing corruption, the future of democracy in Scotland looks bleak.

Following in the hallowed footsteps of Bryson, Fry and Palin, Ron Culley has produced a travel book that is at once fascinating, delightful and very funny. Whether writing about America's Route 66, the Arctic Circle, European rail journeys, Africa's Equator countries or points between, Culley entertains hugely. A must read! `A gem of a book'. Alexander Tarbet

In 1985, as he prepared to release information that could have brought down the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, solicitor and senior Scottish Nationalist politician Willie McRae was found in a remote highland glen. He had been under surveillance by officers of the Special Branch who had followed him from Glasgow. He had been shot in the head. Suicide or state-sponsored murder?This fast-paced work of historical fiction explores a controversy which continues to dog the legacies of the Heath and Thatcher governments in the decades leading to the end of the last century.

The Irish Republican Army's Chief of Staff, Charlie Kerins, is executed by de Valera's Free State government following a tip-off. Sinead O'Grady, a young and inexperienced Volunteer serving in the IRA during Ireland's Emergency period throughout World War Two is tasked with finding the informer and with assisting a German diplomat in organising an arms drop in rural Kerry. But with a traitor in the ranks, British Intelligence and de Valera's Gardai on her heels, falling in love has got to be a distraction. As an assassination campaign begins, mistrust deepens and Sinead's life and that of those she loves hang by a thread.