Robert Louis Stevenson is one of the most important and influential writers of the modern era, admired and emulated by authors across the world from the 19th century to the present day. He also wrote some of the most original stories, creating iconic characters who have moved beyond the page to become parts of the broader collective culture. Christopher MacLachlan's SCOTNOTE study guide examines three of Stevenson's most popular novels. Sometimes dismissed as 'merely' children's fiction, Treasure Island, and Kidnapped and its sequel Catriona, feature young protagonists who come of age through their adventures, and who discover that those they look to for help and guidance may be more fallible and unreliable than they had first thought. This guide is suitable for senior school pupils and students at all levels.

A special issue of the popular Scotlands journal.

There are more statues of Robert Burns in the United States than there are of any American poet. Scotland's favorite poet has been loved by generations of Americans--from Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman to Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, and Bob Dylan. Now this book makes Burns's greatest poetry more accessible to American readers than ever before. This is the only comprehensive selection of his work that has discreet line-by-line marginal glossing of the Scots, archaic, and obscure words, allowing readers to understand and enjoy the poems without constantly having to turn to footnotes or a glossary. Newly edited from manuscripts and early printed texts, this definitive, wide-ranging collection also introduces some recently discovered verses--and it is the only edition to present a substantial selection of Burns's important prose writings, including letters and key statements about his art. Edited and annotated by acclaimed Burns biographer Robert Crawford and textual expert Christopher MacLachlan, the book also includes a substantial introduction that puts the poet in biographical, historical, and cultural context.

"The Best Laid Schemes" demonstrates like no other collection why Burns is considered one of the world's greatest poets of love and democracy--and why he continues to entertain, move, and intrigue readers two and a half centuries after his birth.

The nineteenth century saw the romanticisation of the Highlander, the rise of tartanry and the emergence of the modern Scottish tourist industry. It also witnessed the worst excesses of the Clearances and the beginnings of an exodus from the Highlands to the industrial cities and to the colonies. The fourteen essays in this volume examine the literary culture of Scotland - Highland and Lowland - during this transformational period, and explore its interactions and intersections.

George MacDonald (1824 - 1905) is the acknowledged forefather of later fantasy writers such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien: however, his place in his own time is seldom examined. This omission does MacDonald a grave disservice. By ignoring a fundamental aspect of what made MacDonald the man he was, the critical habit of viewing MacDonald's work only in terms of his followers reinforces the long-entrenched assessment that it has a limited value - one only for religious enthusiasts and fantasy lovers. The essays in this anthology seek to correct that omission, by looking directly at MacDonald the Victorian - at his place in the Victorian literary scene, at his engagement with the works of his literary contemporaries and at his interest in the social, political, and theological movements of his age. The resulting portrait reveals a MacDonald who deserves a more prominent place in the rich literary history of the nineteenth century than he has hitherto been given.

In 1878 Robert Louis Stevenson escaped from his numerous troubles--poor health, tormented love, inadequate funds--by embarking on a journey through the Cevennes in France, accompanied by Modestine, a rather single-minded donkey. The notebook Stevenson kept during this time became Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, a highly entertaining account of the French and their country. The Amateur Emigrant describes his travels to and around America: the crowded weeks in steerage, the cross-country train journey. Filled with sharp-eyed observations, it brilliantly conveys Stevenson's perceptions of America and the Americans. Together, these writings reveal as much about the traveler as the places he travels to.

‘Few could sustain the glance of his eye, at once fiery and penetrating’

Savaged by critics for its supposed profanity and obscenity, and bought in large numbers by readers eager to see whether it lived up to its lurid reputation, The Monk became a succès de scandale when it was published in 1796 – not least because its author was a member of parliament and only twenty years old. It recounts the diabolical decline of Ambrosio, a Capuchin superior, who succumbs first to temptations offered by a young girl who has entered his monastery disguised as a boy, and continues his descent with increasingly depraved acts of sorcery, murder, incest and torture. Combining sensationalism with acute psychological insight, this masterpiece of Gothic fiction is a powerful exploration of how violent and erotic impulses can break through the barriers of social and moral restraint.

This edition is based on the first edition of 1796, which appeared before Lewis’s revisions to avoid charges of blasphemy. In his introduction, Christopher MacLachlan discusses the novel’s place within the Gothic genre, and its themes of sexual desire and the abuse of power.

This superb anthology offers a lively and indispensable collection of poems and songs from the eighteenth century. Here are the poets who created the literary tradition of vernacular directness which Burns drew upon and shared. Before Burns includes a substantial selection from the work of Allan Ramsay and Robert Ferguson (Burns's 'elder brother in the muse'), as well as a wider selection from the men and women writers whose good-humoured accessibility so characterised the poetry of their time. MacLachlan's excellent introduction also puts these works in perspective and makes a case for a linguistic confidence, rather than insecurity, in their vigorous use of English and Scots.

The eighteenth century was a time of dramatic change and drastic upheaval in Scotland, from the Treaty of Union with England in 1707, through Jacobite rebellions in the Highlands, to the Scottish Enlightenment. This was the century when Scottish writing exploded across the globe, from Hume and Smith, from Macpherson's Ossian, from Burns and from Scott, transforming world literature and culture. Crossing the Highland Line is a new collection of essays examining this crucial period, exploring the literary connections and influences across Scotland, and tracing the links between those who wrote in Scots and English and those who wrote in Gaelic. These essays, from fourteen leading scholars, show that the whole of Scotland - Highland and Lowland, high cultures and low - participated in the reshaping of literature in the eighteenth century. The Highland Line does not divide.

Tolkien famously rejected comparison of his Ring with Wagner's, though there is good evidence that Tolkien knew much more about Der Ring des Nibelungen than he let on after the publication of The Lord of the Rings. Analysis of that work from a Wagnerian point of view enables consideration of it in a new way. By exploring the parallels between Wagner's Ring and Tolkien's, a fresh interpretation of Tolkien's work emerges, one that hinges on associating Gandalf with Wotan. Like Wagner's god, Gandalf has to find a way of solving the problems posed by the Ring and like Wotan he cannot succeed without other people. When the plots of The Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit) are examined in this way it becomes apparent how much they owe to Wagner's music-drama, and the role of Gandalf is opened to new explanation.

Published twice-yearly, this journal examines all aspects of Scottish literature, history, music, art, film, television and politics, presenting articles from leading scholars.