Glasgow has a long and rich history and the buildings housed within this architecturally impressive city tell its tale accordingly, from its sixth-century origins, to its current role as a vibrant and cosmopolitan centre of new industry and education. Glasgow in 50 Buildings explores the history of this wonderful city by presenting a selection of its greatest architectural treasures. From the medieval Provand's Lordship to the contemporary Riverside Museum, this unique study celebrates Glasgow's architectural heritage in a new and accessible way. Historian Michael Meighan guides the reader on a tour of the city's historic buildings and modern structural marvels. The churches, theatres, commercial and public edifices of Glasgow's rich industrial heritage are presented alongside the innovative buildings of a twenty-first-century city. Images are arranged chronologically to tell the story of Glasgow's development through its most significant buildings. A specially designed map appears at the beginning of the volume to show where each building is located and the text is illustrated with colour photographs and archival images, showcasing the best of Glasgow's heritage in fifty buildings.

Monuments are all around us. We walk or drive past them every day, yet we are often only vaguely aware of their existence. They are in cemeteries and parks; on busy streets and in lonely places; they stand by the sea or on the top of hills. Some are very obvious, such as the Scott Monument, and some are obscure and hidden. They commemorate many things: often the dead of history in wars at home and abroad and disasters, both recent and long past, but they also honour the achievements of our inventors, writers and explorers and our kings, queens, saints and martyrs. They appear as statues, as windows, as sculptures, as plaques and sometimes as buildings. Sometimes they take centre stage in the middle of city squares or on the summit of lonely mountains. In this book author Michael Meighan examines the stories behind the monuments and memorials of Scotland, and what they reveal about the history of the country: its most ancient monuments; wars and battles; heroes and villains; cultural figures, explorers and scientists; and disasters, both natural and otherwise. The monuments range from famous landmarks such as the Wallace Memorial at Stirling and the Wallace Monument in Aberdeen, the Scott Monument in Edinburgh, to memorials to Robert Burns, Mary, Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite Risings at Glenfinnan, Prestonpans and Culloden, which represent the shaping of Scotland. Other monuments range from Greyfriars Bobby, memorials to Saint Margaret of Scotland and the Commando Memorial in Lochaber and many more.

Glasgow was once the 'second city of the Empire', producing ships, locomotives, cars and heavy engineering for the world. It was also a religious centre, with one of Scotland's earliest churches; a centre for the Virginia tobacco trade; a home of designers and architects, inventors and entrepreneurs, artists and industrialists. It is that variety of talent, and the melting pot of immigrants and other Scots sucked into the city at its peak, that saw the phenomenal growth in wealth and culture which has left the city with a legacy of fine Victorian architecture, and it is its post-war decline that has seen a legacy of remote council estates. Glasgow has risen again, and is today a successful post-industrial city, thanks in no small part to the hugely influential 'Glasgow's Miles Better' campaign of the 1980s. Since then, it has demonstrated an ability to look at the past and preserve the best of the old, while producing some of the most startling modern architecture outside of London. Well-known Glasgow author and historian Michael Meighan takes the reader on a fascinating A-Z tour of the city's history, exploring its lesser-known nooks and crannies, and along the way relating many a tale of the most interesting people and places. Fully illustrated with photographs from the past and present, the A-Z of Glasgow will appeal to residents and visitors alike.

Located on the banks of the River Clyde, Glasgow was once the second city of the Empire, producing ships, locomotives, cars and heavy engineering for the world. Its docks would see huge numbers of exports. But Glasgow is much more than this; it is a religious centre, with one of Scotland's earliest churches, a centre for the Virginia tobacco trade, a home of designers and architects, inventors and entrepreneurs, artists and industrialists. It is that variety of talent, and the melting pot of immigrants and other Scots, sucked into the city at its peak that saw the phenomenal growth in wealth and culture that has left the city with a legacy of fine Victorian architecture, and it is its decline that has seen a legacy of remote council estates. However, Glasgow has risen again, and is truly a vibrant city, thanks to its self-promotion from Dr Michael Kelly's 'Glasgow's Miles Better' campaign to its use in gritty film and TV productions, as well as its ability to look at the past and preserve the best of the old, while producing some of the most startling modern architecture outside of London. Michael Meighan tells the story of Glasgow, from its drumlin days in the Ice Age to the growth of the Church, its industries, its people and the phenomenal expansion of the Victorian era and the legacy it has left us.

The River Forth is one of Scotland's great waterways. It has a majestic history and heritage, part of which is the Forth bridges. Of these, the most iconic is the Forth Rail Bridge, which opened in 1890. But there is also the Kincardine Bridge, opened in 1936 and once the longest swing bridge in Europe, the Forth Road Bridge, opened in 1964, and the new Queensferry Crossing, due to be completed in 2016. In this book, Michael Meighan looks at all these bridges as well as the Clackmannanshire Bridge and the fords, ferries and smaller bridges which preceded these great crossings. The Forth crossings have a special place in the history and culture of Scotland, and in the hearts of all Scots, and Michael Meighan pays tribute to them in a wonderful mix of both old and new images.

'There was nowhere the smell enveloped you as it did at Glasgow Cross. At that interchange of roads and cultures, the smells came in great swathes... if you had your eyes closed you could tell almost exactly where you were.' For Michael Meighan, all the most vivid boyhood memories are inseparably mingled with the potent scents of Glasgow's streets. Through heady description of each of these odours, Michael returns to the city where he grew up in the 1950s and '60s, revisiting the people and places he knew as a child. Beginning in the dimly-lit rooms of Davy Ireland's tobacconist ship, amongst acrid smoke and the aroma of freshly printed news, travelling via the Glasgow tram, reeking of leather and electricity, and along the pungent docks and fish market, the book winds its way through the city. Seen through the eyes of a child and illustrated with original sketches and archive photographs, the book offers a unique perspective on all the most famous locations in Glasgow that will captivate anyone who knows the city.