Thursday 29 January 2015

History Book - Wordle Visualisations

Just heard this week that my hillwalking book, The Weekend Fix, has gone out of print. There won't be a second print run. So if you want a copy, you had better be fast!



Of course, it will always be available for Kindle here.

So what of my next book?

This may be of only passing interest to others, but to paraphrase someone who probably isn't Maya Angelou despite her name being lodged in my head as the generator of the quote: "I can't do the job a want, I'd be a damn fool not to blog what I want!"

I have about 400,000 words that I am currently wrestling into a history of Britain. There is a twist - it is a history of Britain from a Scottish perspective. The first section covers Prehistory to Pictland:



The second, the formation of Alba to the 'Golden Age' of Alexander III:



The third volume, the Wars of Independence and the Stewarts:



The fourth, Religion and Union. (It is interesting to note that most histories of Britain, invariably written from a Metropolitan perspective, get by comfortably without mentioning Scotland at all. The history of Britain from a Scottish perspective meanwhile, still has plenty to say about England. The same, however, does not seem to be the case for Wales.)



The fifth part, Industry and Empire:



The sixth and final, Decline and Regeneration:



These visualisations are purely for my own curiosity. It will be interesting to see how they compare with the finished book. Normal service resumed in the next post :)

3 comments:

blueskyscotland said...

Best of luck with the new book. Having two out myself on kindle now I think the hardest part is getting anyone to notice or even, dream of dreams, actually read them.
I would be interested in a history of Scotland from a Scottish perspective.

Robert Craig said...

Thanks and yes, in theory it is easy to self-publish now, but the biggest obstacle, far more than writing a book that deserves to be read, is getting people interested in the first place. There don't seem to be any short cuts with that unless you are able to capture a zeitgeist (and be the best chronicler of that zeitgeist to boot).

Russell said...

Managed to pick up a copy of "The Weekend Fix" last week in the Stirling Oxfam shop for £1.99. - In great condition. Enjoying it very much. Liked the fact that you reference "Mountain Days and Bothy Nights" and "Of Big Hills and Wee Men", both of which are favourites of mine.