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And the Land Lay Still
And the Land Lay Still
May 10, 2025 1:41 PM

Author:James Robertson

And the Land Lay Still

And the Land Lay Still is the sweeping Scottish epic by James Robertson

And the Land Lay Still is nothing less than the story of a nation. James Robertson's breathtaking novel is a portrait of modern Scotland as seen through the eyes of natives and immigrants, journalists and politicians, drop-outs and spooks, all trying to make their way through a country in the throes of great and rapid change. It is a moving, sweeping story of family, friendship, struggle and hope - epic in every sense.

The winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award 2010, And the Land Lay Still is a masterful insight into Scotland's history in the twentieth century and a moving, beautifully written novel of intertwined stories.

'Toweringly ambitious, virtually flawlessly realized, a masterpiece and, without a doubt, my book of the year' Daily Mail

'A jam-packed, dizzying piece of fiction' Scotland on Sunday

'Gripping, vivid, beautifully realized' The Times

'Engrossing' Daily Telegraph

'Powerful and moving. A brilliant and multifaceted saga of Scottish life in the second half of the twentieth century' Sunday Times

'Brilliant and thoughtful. Eminently readable, subtle and profound' Independent on Sunday

'Bold, discursive and deep, Robertson's sweeping history of life and politics in 20th-century Scotland should not be ignored' Ian Rankin, Observer Books of the Year

James Robertson is the author of three previous novels: The Fanatic, Joseph Knight and The Testament of Gideon Mack, which is available in Penguin. Joseph Knight was awarded the two major Scottish literary awards in 2003/4 - the Saltire Book of the Year and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year - and The Testament of Gideon Mack was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, picked by Richard and Judy's Book Club, and shortlisted for the Saltire Book of the Year award.

Reviews

Wonderful, brilliant, panoramic, illuminating. A joy to read

—— Irvine Welsh , Guardian

Gripping, vivid, beautifully realized

—— The Times

Powerful and moving. A brilliant and multifaceted saga of Scottish life in the second half of the twentieth century

—— Sunday Times

Toweringly ambitious, virtually flawlessly realized, a masterpiece and, without a doubt, my book of the year

—— Daily Mail

Big, ambitious, intricately organised . . . it's some achievement

—— New Statesman

Dizzying . . . subtle and profound . . . And The Land Lay Still reads like an alternative history of Scotland told by its everyday people instead of its movers and shakers . . . eminently readable

—— Independent on Sunday

Both epic and domestic, it delivers a wonderful lifelikeness

—— Scotsman

A hugely ambitious and compassionate novel . . . a jam-packed, dizzying piece of fiction . . . already it's being spoken of as the most important novel about Scotland since Lanark

—— Scotland on Sunday
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