Alex J. Craig reviews A History of Scotland’s Landscapes by Fiona Watson with Piers Dixon

iScot Book Review

Deserted village, Arienas

Fiona Watson

Lime kiln, Ardtornish

Each chapter starts in prehistory and follows its theme up to the present time

Quartz sand mine, Lochaline

THIS is a wonderful book. I don’t normally say that sort of thing, but in this case the superlatives are justified. It looks good, it feels good, and it is good.

So what is it? Like it says on the tin, it’s a history of how we have made our country look the way it does. Fiona Watson tells how, from the earliest times, people in Scotland have been making their imprint on the land. How by their activity they have shaped what they found, over and over again, to make the landscape we see today. There are four long chapters, covering settlement, farming, industry/infrastructure, and leisure. Each chapter starts in prehistory and follows its theme up to the present time. Fiona Watson draws on the latest research findings to develop each theme carefully and thoughtfully, illustrating where possible from contemporary accounts, which are available from the sixteenth century onwards.