Blood on the Thistle is an examination of the life and times of a remarkable Scottish family, the Cranstons of Haddington, East Lothian. It focuses on a period from about 1880, when the young, hard-working parents, Alec and Lizzie Cranston, arrived in Haddington, through to 1920, when the family they had produced, torn apart by the effects of the Great War, broke up as its surviving members pursued separate lives around the globe.Out of seven sons who served in the First World War, four died and two more were horrifically wounded; only one, the youngest, returned home physically unscathed. This book explores the effects of this extreme sacrifice on the sons themselves as well as the loved ones they left behind, particularly their mother, Lizzie, who mourned them for the rest of her days.This is the tale of how a once proud and aspirational Scottish family was devastated by war, and how the effects continued to ripple through time and generations. Until, a century later, the threads of this remarkable family finally begin to be drawn together again, in a book that is at once a superb documentary account and a moving tribute to a generation.

Blood on the Thistle is an examination of the life and times of a remarkable Scottish family, the Cranstons of Haddington, East Lothian. It focuses on a period from about 1880, when the young, hard - working parents, Alec and Lizzie Cranston, arrived in Haddington, through to 1920, when the family they had produced, torn apart by the Great War, broke up as its surviving members pursued separate lives around the globe. Of seven sons who served in the First World War, four died and two more were horrifically wounded; only one, the youngest, returned home physically unscathed. This book explores the effects of this extreme sacrifi ce on the sons themselves as well as the loved ones they left behind, particularly their mother, Lizzie, who mourned them for the rest of her days. This is the tale of how a once proud and aspirational Scottish family was devastated by war, and how the effects continued to ripple through time and generations. Until, a century later, the threads of this remarkable family are finally drawn together again, in a book that is at once a superb documentary account and a moving tribute to a generation.

The police are calling them accidents. They say young men are simply drinking too much and meeting a tragic end in icy lakes and rivers. But the public thinks something else has been going on in America's northland since 1997. They're calling the sudden disappearances of hundreds of college-age men mysterious. They're calling the drownings murder. [Special Black & White Illustrated Discounted Edition]

“This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous. My husband is planning ‘an accident’ in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for him to marry.” —Letter written by Princess Diana, late 1996 It is a moment that remains frozen in history. When the Mercedes carrying Diana, Princess of Wales, spun fatally out of control in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris in August 1997, the world was shocked by what appeared to be a terrible accident. But two decades later, the circumstances surrounding what really happened that night—and, crucially, why it happened—remain mired in suspicion, controversy, and misinformation. Until now. Dylan Howard has re-examined all of the evidence surrounding Diana’s death—official documents, eyewitness testimony and Diana’s own private journals—as well as amassing dozens of new interviews with investigators, witnesses, and those closest to the princess to ask one very simple question: Was the death of Princess Diana a tragedy…or treason? Diana: Case Solved has uncovered in unprecedented detail just how much of a threat Diana became to the establishment. In these pages you will learn of the covert diaries and recordings she made, logging the Windsors’ most intimate secrets and hidden scandals as a desperate kind of insurance policy. You will learn how the royals were not the only powerful enemies she made, as her ground-breaking campaigns against AIDS and landmines drew admiration from the public, but also enmity from powerful establishment figures including international arms dealers, the British and American governments, and the MI6 and the CIA. And, in a dramatic return to the Parisian streets where she met her fate, the two questions that have plagued investigators for over twenty years will finally be answered: Why was Diana being driven in a car previously written off as a death trap? And who was really behind the wheel of the mysterious white Fiat at the scene of the crash?

"The Staff at Simson's" is Frederick Niven's most famous Scottish novel. It tells an absorbing story of class-divided Glasgow life. Filled with entertaining characters and a gripping plot, this book makes a delightful read.

In two volumes. Volume I: 601 pages including a 522 page index of family names, in alphabetical order, describing the crest of every name listed and where to find an illustration in the volume of plates; a glossary of heraldic terms and other words; and nearly seventy pages of family mottoes with translations of those in Latin, French or other foreign languages. Volume II: contains 130 plates, each depicting 15 family crests in b&w and a further 18 plates illustrating regalia, insignia, crowns, flags, monograms, arms of principal cities etc. also in b&w. There is a key to all the plates which, in the case of the crests, shows which families have which crest.