The Birlinn imprint publishes Scottish and general UK interest books, including biography, history, military, politics and Scottish Gaelic. The name comes from the old Norse word birlinn, meaning a long boat or small galley used especially in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland in the Middle Ages.
What’s new from Birlinn?
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Hardback | Pub: 05 Nov 2026£30.00Your ultimate guide to the world’s most popular type of whisky. Blended Scotch is the foundation of the whisky industry, and it is by far the world’s most popular type of whisky. Yet relatively little has been written about it – until…
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Paperback | Pub: 01 Oct 2026£10.99
With its natural predators long exterminated, huge deer populations controlled by landowners – largely for their own private interests – have had far-reaching environmental impacts. Despite efforts by conservationists to reduce populations and…
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Paperback | Pub: 01 Oct 2026£12.99Plants have played an enormous role in human culture since time immemorial. This fascinating book explores some of the many ways in which trees, herbs, ferns, mosses and other organisms such as fungi have been used in supernatural and magical…
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| Pub: 17 Sep 2026£19.99An absolutely stunning collage of Edinburgh scenes will surely make this 1000 piece puzzle an instant success in Scotland and beyond. As well as the image on the front of the box, there is a key to the depicted scenes on the box back. The artist,…
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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£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: 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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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…
Coming soon
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Paperback | Pub: 04 Feb 2027£10.99Scotland’s largest city has always been one of the most vibrant, varied and fascinating places in the country. This new history of Glasgow begins with the river, for the Clyde made the city flourish. From prehistory to the Romans, to Mungo and the…
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Paperback | Pub: 04 Feb 2027£8.99Scotland has one of the richest traditions of myth and legend in the world. This colouring book features some of the best known and most colourful characters which feature in stories whose origins are lost in the mists of time. As well as the…
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Paperback | Pub: 04 Mar 2027£12.99
Bere is the native barley of Orkney. In the past it was an important multi-use crop and a Scottish staple, its use declined as more easily processed crops, such as oats, were introduced. The Agronomy Institute UHi Orkney continue to grow beds of…
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Box Set | Pub: 04 Mar 2027£19.99This stunning collage of Glasgow features more than 60 iconic buildings and other landmarks spanning many centuries, from Glasgow Cathedral. Glasgow School of Art and Kelvingrove Museum to the Armadillo, Kingston Bridge and the Finnieston Crane. …
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Box Set | Pub: 04 Mar 2027£19.99
This beautiful jigsaw puzzle includes vignettes of the best-known birds found in Scotland in all kinds of habitats, from sea cliffs, shore and farmland to mountain, garden and fresh water. Includes: Arctic tern * Barnacle Geese * Blackbird *…
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Paperback | Pub: 01 Apr 2027£12.99
The Caledonian Pinewoods once covered huge swathes of the Scottish Highlands and are a living testament to more than 9,000 years of cultural and ecological history. Now, at a time of nature and climate emergency, their future hangs in the balance. …
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Hardback | Pub: 06 May 2027£14.99As the spiritual centre of Scotland, the crucible of the Reformation, the site of the oldest university in the country, the story of this small town on the coast of Fife is the story of the nation. Its university – the third oldest in the…
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| Pub: 06 May 2027£9.99
This notebook features a cover with artwork by artist Louise Day. The Silver Birch notebook has blank, unlined paper and contains head-and-tail bans, a ribbon marker and band to keep it securely fastened.
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| Pub: 06 May 2027£9.99
This notebook features a cover with artwork by artist Louise Day. The Bluebell notebook is lined, and contains head-and-tail bans, a ribbon marker and band to keep it securely fastened.
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Paperback | Pub: 06 May 2027£6.99This is a completely new compilation of the forenames used in Scotland, with their origins, history and meaning. Over 475 names are included, from the very first to be recorded up to the latest 21st century names. Not only is it the most…
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Paperback | Pub: 06 May 2027£6.99Medicine in Scotland has a richly diverse history. Many unique discoveries, and the individuals behind them, are rightly honoured globally in scientific literature (and somewhat self-deprecatingly at home in souvenir tea-towels). This book takes a…
We think you might like:
Alistair Moffat
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Paperback | Pub: 21 Sep 2017£16.99
Discover the ultimate chronicle of a nation. In this book, Alistair Moffat brings vividly to life the story of Scotland, from the dawn of prehistory through to the twenty-first century. Ambitious, richly detailed and highly readable, Scotland: A…
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Paperback | Pub: 06 Mar 2017£12.99
This is the story behind Rome’s greatest frontier – Hadrian’s Wall. Hadrian’s Wall is the largest, most spectacular and one of the most enigmatic historical monument in Britain. Nothing else approaches its vast scale: a land wall…
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Paperback | Pub: 04 Jun 2026£8.99
Relive the battle for a nation. As 8,000 Scottish soldiers, most of them spearmen, faced 18,000 English infantrymen, archers and mounted knights in June 1314 near the Bannock Burn, many would have thought that the result a foregone conclusion. But…
Discover the Natural World
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Paperback | Pub: 04 Jun 2026£10.99
‘Fascinating and lyrical . . . A beautifully written celebration of a lifelong passion’ – Stephen Venables The relationship of people with hills and mountains has been complex, rich and varied – from awe and wonder to fear and…
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Paperback | Pub: 02 Jul 2026£12.99
Join Robin Crawford on a personal journey from the source of the River Tay to the sea. With the widest catchment area of any river in Britain, the Tay drains much of the lower Highlands of Scotland. A vast network of lochs and smaller bodies of…
