To celebrate World Whisky Day 2020, here’s a recording of the first chapter of Whisky Galore, Compton MacKenzie’s classic tale of wartime rationing, shipwreck and intoxication in the Hebrides. Read by members of the Birlinn team from their homes while on lockdown in May 2020.

So, grab a wee dram, put your feet up, and let us transport you back to the Hebrides, in the year 1943…