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At Birlinn Ltd, we are home to the finest writing from an astonishing list of authors ranging across nearly every subject area from history to sport, fiction to poetry, children’s titles to academic works.
Check out the New Releases page where we hope to tempt you to try something new. And stop by the Latest pages for author interviews, extracts, videos, events and more. To keep up to date with all our latest news, scroll down to sign up to the Birlinn newsletter.
There’s always something new going on.
Birlinn – Publishing in Scotland for the World.
Latest Releases
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Hardback | Pub: 03 Sep 2026£25.00Funny, scurrilous, chilling and gloriously inventive, Tam o’ Shanter is widely regarded as Robert Burns’ masterpiece. This magnificent edition of the poem features the work of Alexander Goudie, one of Scotland’s greatest…
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Paperback | Pub: 03 Sep 2026£8.99
In Jen’s Party, soon-to-be fifteen-year-old Jen immediately regrets agreeing to her crazy Aunt Belle’s plan for a birthday party which involves, among other notions, flirting with the town’s entire male population. With a perfectly tuned ear…
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Paperback | Pub: 03 Sep 2026£8.99
Bad Attitudes is a wickedly dark tale of Scottish council housing and murder. This novella boasts a missing person, a lethally nosy neighbour, an extra-marital affair, a lusty councillor and a new housing law for tinkers. Who but Agnes Owens could…
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Paperback | Pub: 03 Sep 2026£12.99
‘A masterclass in why sheep count’ – Mark Stephen, presenter of BBC Radio Scotland’s Out of Doors Acclaimed nature writer Polly Pullar has been fascinated by sheep since childhood, when she formed an inseparable bond with her pet…
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Paperback | Pub: 03 Sep 2026£9.99
The scales of justice are easily tipped . . . London, 1932. A brutal murder, a complex forensic investigation and a safe conviction – or so everyone thinks until D.C.I Mowbray hears the condemned man’s last words. Now he needs Dr Jack…
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Hardback | Pub: 03 Sep 2026£35.00This is the complete story of Scotland’s remarkable landscape. Scotland is justly famed for its magnificent scenery – mountains, lochs, islands, wild rocky places and sandy beaches. All this is evidence of an exciting geological history…
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Paperback | Pub: 03 Sep 2026£16.99This is the story of the Hebridean island of Raasay from the time of the hunter-gatherers to the 21st century. It is dramatic tale which includes Irish missionaries, Viking invaders, the medieval Lordship of the Isles, adoption by the crown of…
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Paperback | Pub: 03 Sep 2026£17.99
This is the story of Champion Golfer Allan Robertson (1815-1859). Until now, Robertson’s role had been as a member of the supporting cast in the story of leading light Tom Morris. Between 1840 and 1859 the reality was Robertson shared centre…
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Hardback | Pub: 03 Sep 2026£35.00Flora Celtica documents the continuously evolving relationship between the Scots and their environment. Based on a mixture of detailed research and information provided by the public, this book explores the remarkable diversity of ways that native…
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Paperback | Pub: 03 Sep 2026£25.00Immerse yourself in Scotland’s sauna culture. Saunaland is a love story – between flame and forest, sweat and salt, person and place. It explores the deep, healing rituals of sauna culture, rooted in Nordic tradition and Celtic practices,…
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Hardback | Pub: 06 Aug 2026£12.00
The Darien Venture was the singular event at the end of the seventeenth century that fundamentally altered Scotland’s future. It took place on the other side of the world, amid the jungle-coastline at the junction between the continents of North…
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Hardback | Pub: 06 Aug 2026£17.99To find out where we are going, we sometimes need to find out where we came from. Sister Maria-Fiore dei Fiori Montagna, who is suffering from an acute identity crisis, wants to know more about her own past, and after doing a DNA test, she discovers…
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Hardback | Pub: 06 Aug 2026£12.00
The Darien Venture was the singular event at the end of the seventeenth century that fundamentally altered Scotland’s future. ‘A powerfully clear account . . . Highly recommended for anyone interested in the colonial history of…
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Paperback | Pub: 16 Jul 2026£7.99Young children will love bringing to life these amazing images of Scottish farms by brushing with water to reveal colour. The book also features very short captions (around 10-15 words) to describe the various scenes.
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Paperback | Pub: 03 Sep 2026£12.99
‘A masterclass in why sheep count’ – Mark Stephen, presenter of BBC Radio Scotland’s Out of Doors Acclaimed nature writer Polly Pullar has been fascinated by sheep since childhood, when she formed an inseparable bond with her pet…
Current Bestsellers
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Paperback | Pub: 07 May 2026£8.99
A Working Mother is a perfectly crafted novel that will enthral, entertain and surprise in equal measure. Our unreliable narrator, Betty – arch, witty, clever – is married with children and feels trapped. While her husband, Adam, drinks and…
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Paperback | Pub: 07 May 2026£8.99
‘It is dark now and my window onto the world is a small one. I do not know how much longer I will be here.’ Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction On 9 July 1857, Angus MacPhee, a labourer from Liniclate on the…
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Paperback | Pub: 02 Apr 2026£9.99
Emma Propeller is trying to swerve the wreckage of her marriage. When her husband returns from rehab with a new lover, Emma bolts with her baby on a midnight train to a castle in the Scottish Highlands. A job as a live-in driver for a glamorous…
Natalie Jayne Clark and Chris Barkley longlisted for The Saltires
11 Sep ’26
Birlinn to Publish The Scottish Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2028 by Anna Marshall
11 Sep ’26
Merryn Glover shortlisted for BBC National Short Story Award
11 Sep ’26
Escape into a Good Book – delivered right to your door!
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Paperback | Pub: 02 Jan 2025£9.99
Winner of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize Death is a lonely business . . . No one who meets Dr Jack Cuthbert forgets him. Tall, urbane, brilliant but damaged, this Scottish pathologist who works with Scotland Yard is the best the new DCI has seen….
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Paperback | Pub: 04 Jun 2026£9.99
A lost Hitchcock film. A deadly secret. It’s murder in Hollywood. Hollywood, 1959. When struggling mystery writer Bobby Burgoyne is hired by Alfred Hitchcock to work on the script for his new film Crescendo, he thinks his future success is…
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Paperback | Pub: 07 May 2026£8.99
The building trade in the west of Scotland has slowed, and Mac leaves his home and his companions in the Paxton Arms for the oil-rich north to seek his fortune. But he soon finds himself out in the wilderness, chasing the promise of a job. In the…
