A history of Scottish ancestry that combines the new genetic knowledge gained from DNA with written history and archaeology to give the first full picture of the Scots and their heritage.
'Alistair Moffat’s two books on DNA history (The Scots: A Genetic Journey and The British: A Genetic Journey) are extraordinary achievements. As a best-selling historian and director of a highly successful DNA testing company he’s uniquely qualified to provide for the general reader an accessible yet historically and scientifically informed account of a very complicated story. He always writes very clearly (good news for any editor!) and his use of feature boxes to include fascinating complementary material only adds to the appeal.' -Andrew Simmons, Editorial Manager, Birlinn Ltd
History has always mattered to Scots, and rarely more so than now at the outset of a new century, with a new census appearing in 2011 and after more than ten years of a new parliament. An almost limitless archive of our history lies hidden inside our bodies and we carry the ancient story of Scotland around with us. The mushrooming of genetic studies, of DNA analysis, is rewriting our history in spectacular fashion. In Scotland: A Genetic Journey, Alistair Moffat explores the history that is printed on our genes, and in a remarkable new approach, uncovers the detail of where we are from, who we are and in so doing colour vividly a DNA map of Scotland.
Alistair Moffat was born and bred in the Scottish Borders. A former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Director of Programmes at Scottish Television, he now runs the burgeoning Borders Book Festival as well as a production company based near Selkirk. He has written six previous books that are published by Birlinn.
Dr James F. Wilson is a population geneticist. His DPhil is from the University of Oxford where his initial studies with Professor David Goldstein led to the identification of the first genetic signatures of Norse Viking ancestry in the British Isles. This led to the BBC series 'Blood of the Vikings', which traced the legacy of the Vikings in the British Isles through a genetics survey. A keen genealogist, Jim is a native of Orkney but also has roots in Shetland.
