Alistair Moffat: Scotland in a Lifetime

Captioned

Prolific social historian and Edinburgh favourite, Alistair Moffat returns to discuss To See Ourselves: A Personal History of Scotland Since 1950. Through this latest work, Moffat chronicles the radical changes seen in every aspect of Scottish life over the last 75 years: from politics and society to the arts and environment. In this fascinating conversation, Moffat shares recollections of events and eyewitness accounts. Expect poignant reminiscence and insightful opinions.

Book Festival News

60 new events now available on demand 60 new events now available on demand
Tuesday 4 November

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

The Front List: Ta-Nehisi Coates The Front List: Ta-Nehisi Coates Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning, uncompromising commentator on race relations, truth, and justice, especially in America. He’ll discuss the urgent need for the West, and particularly America, to free itself from the myths it tells itself… Miriam Toews: Remaking the World Miriam Toews: Remaking the World The author of international phenomenon, Women Talking, joins us to discuss making a pact with traumatic memory and filling silences we wish weren’t there… Karl Ove Knausgaard (2014 event) Karl Ove Knausgaard (2014 event) Norwegian literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard has been gathering an ever-increasing band of avid followers with his epic and much-discussed six-volume novel cycle, My Struggle. ‘It’s completely blown my mind… I need the next volume… Steve Brusatte & Thomas Halliday: The Paleo-Adventurers Steve Brusatte & Thomas Halliday: The Paleo-Adventurers Has our obsession with dinosaurs overshadowed other discoveries about our planet’s history? Palaeontologist Steve Brusatte lays out a fascinating alternative history in The Rise and Reign of the Mammals. Thomas Halliday is a Scottish paleontologist and… Salman Rushdie Salman Rushdie Master storyteller Salman Rushdie returned to the Book Festival in 2008 to talk about his sumptuous new novel The Enchantress of Florence with Ramona Koval. This is a short extract filmed live at the sold-out event where he describes the influences on his… James Kelman: Class Act James Kelman: Class Act It’s impossible to overstate the importance of James Kelman and his landmark 1994 Booker Prize win for Scottish literature. Nearly 30 years on, we welcome Kelman back to the Festival to speak with writer Graeme Armstrong on God's Teeth and Other Phenomena… Alexander McCall Smith: Here’s the Scoop Alexander McCall Smith: Here’s the Scoop The mighty Alexander McCall Smith brings us all of his latest works including Bertie’s Theory of Ice Cream (the latest in his beloved 44 Scotland Street series) and In the Time of Five Pumpkins (in the perennially adored No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency… Grace Spence Green: Recovery and Radical Acceptance Grace Spence Green: Recovery and Radical Acceptance When a freak accident irreversibly changed Grace Spence Green’s life at just 22 years old, she developed a resilience she never thought possible. Join Spence Green, in conversation with Gavin Francis, to challenge the way we think about disability… James Crawford: Traces of the Past James Crawford: Traces of the Past The search for hidden landscapes drives the work of Shetland-born author James Crawford, whose books have explored borders, lost buildings, and – in conjunction with his BBC series Scotland from the Sky – the views revealed by photography from the air… Adam Farrer & Jon Ransom: Washed Up on the East Coast Adam Farrer & Jon Ransom: Washed Up on the East Coast Meet two authors who explore class and community – on both mental and geographical levels. Adam Farrer won the 2021 Northbound Book Award with Cold Fish Soup, a darkly hilarious non-fiction debut, forming a memoir out of essays about life in a downtrodden…