The Professor of Truth is the newest novel by Saltire prizewinner James Robertson. Twenty-one years after his wife and daughter were murdered in the bombing of a plane over Scotland, Alan Tealing, a university lecturer, still does not know the truth of what really happened on that terrible night. Obsessed by the details of what he has come to call The Case, he is sure that the man convicted of the atrocity was not responsible, and that he himself has thus been deprived not only of justice but also of any chance of escape from his enduring grief. When an American intelligence officer, apparently terminally ill and determined to settle his own accounts before death, arrives on his doorstep with information about a key witness in the trial, a fateful sequence of events is set in motion. Alan decides that he must travel to Australia to confront this witness, whose evidence he has always disbelieved, in the hope that this might at last be the breakthrough for which he has waited so long. Praise for The Testament of Gideon Mack: 'The story of a Presbyterian minister who comes back from a near-death experience claiming that he has met the devil, this is both a hugely gripping tale and a fascinating examination of the difference between faith and belief' FT Magazine 'A masterly piece of storytelling (and Scottish soul-reaching)' James Naughtie, Herald Praise for And the Land Lay Still: 'A wonderful novel . . . panoramic, illuminating and compassionate . . . the book represents nothing less than a landmark for the novel in Scotland, and underlines the author's position as one of Britain's best contemporary novelists' Irvine Welsh, Guardian 'Bold, discursive and deep, Robertson's sweeping history of life and politics in twentieth-century Scotland should not be ignored' Observer James Robertson is the author of four previous novels, The Fanatic, Joseph Knight, The Testament of Gideon Mack and And the Land Lay Still. 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. And the Land Lay Still was the winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award 2010.

365 is James Robertson's innovative collection of 365 stories, each 365 words long.In 2013, James Robertson wrote a story every day. Each was exactly 365 words long. A year later, on a daily basis, the stories were published on the Five Dials website. Now the 365 stories are gathered together in one volume. Some draw on elements of ancient myth and legend, others are outtakes from Scottish history and folklore; there are squibs and satires, songs and ballads in disguise, fairytales, stories inspired by dreams or in the form of interviews, and personal memories and observations. Underpinning all of them are vital questions: Who are we? What are we doing here? What happens next? 'Wow. James Robertson wrote a 365-word short story each day in 2013. They'll be posted throughout 2014' Ian Rankin, via Twitter 'A great storyteller' The Times 'One of...

'A book of such quality as to persuade you that historical novels are the true business of the writer.'Daily Telegraph A gripping, shocking story of history, enlightement and slavery from the bestselling author of THE FANATIC. JOSEPH KNIGHT confirms James Robertson as one of our foremost novelists. Exiled to Jamaica after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, Sir John Wedderburn made a fortune, alongside his three brothers, as a faux surgeon and sugar planter. In the 1770s, he returned to Scotland to marry and re-establish the family name. He brought with him Joseph Knight, a black slave and a token of his years in the Caribbean. Now, in 1802, Sir John Wedderburn is settling his estate, and has hired a solicitor's agent, Archibald Jamieson, to search for his former slave. The past has haunted Wedderburn ever since Culloden, and ever since he last saw Knight, in court twenty-four years ago, in a case that went to the heart...

'To tell the story of a country or a continent is surely a great and complex undertaking; but the story of a quiet, unnoticed place where there are few people, fewer memories and almost no reliable records - a place such as Glen Conach - may actually be harder to piece together. The hazier everything becomes, the more whatever facts there are become entangled with myth and legend. . .'Deep in the mountains of north-east Scotland lies Glen Conach, a place of secrets and memories, fable and history. In particular, it holds the stories of three different eras, separated by centuries yet linked by location, by an ancient manuscript and by echoes that travel across time.In ancient Pictland, the Christian hermit Conach contemplates God and nature, performs miracles and prepares himself for sacrifice. Long after his death, legends about him are set down by an unknown hand in the Book of Conach.Generations later, in the early nineteenth century, self-promoting...

And the Land Lay Still is the sweeping Scottish epic by James RobertsonAnd 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'...

A madcap Highland adventure from the Booker-longlisted author of And The Land Lay Still and The Testament of Gideon MackDouglas Findhorn Elder is in a sorry state. He's just turned fifty, split up from his girlfriend and been pushed out of his job in an ailing national newspaper. On the night of his birthday, he makes an unexpected new friend: a talking toad. So begins a wild goose chase that will lead Douglas out of his cosy house in Edinburgh and across the country - all the way to crumbling Glentaragar House in the distant West Highlands. Awaiting him along the journey are a semi-criminal hearse driver, a hundred-year-old political firebrand grandmother, a split-personality alcoholic/teetotaller, an elaborate whisky-smuggling conspiracy, a mysterious woman with a rather enchanting Greek nose, and maybe even a shot at redemption...In this gloriously surreal romp, James Robertson proves once and for all that the important...

This brand new edition of short stories comprises the best of James Robertson's work, collected together here for the first time. They range in setting from a dysfunctional safari park to a dentist’s surgery, from the poverty of hope of a reservation in South Dakota to the nightmare vision of a future Scotland riven by ethnic cleansing, from friendships strong in adversity to marriages heading for the rocks. Nothing is quite what it seems in these stories. Running through them is an undercurrent of optimism tinged with despair, as the personal meets the political and individual men and women make choices that will change their lives forever. Surreal, realistic, angry, philosophical, funny and humane, Robertson’s shorter fiction explores the lives of his characters with the same deftness of touch that has brought critical acclaim for novels such as And the Land Lay Still and The Testament of Gideon Mack.

The impressive debut from an exciting new Scottish voice – a stunning novel about history, identity and redemption. A no. 2 best-seller in Scotland. It is Spring 1997 and Hugh Hardie needs a ghost for his Tours of Old Edinburgh. Andrew Carlin is the perfect candidate. So, with cape, stick and a plastic rat, Carlin is paid to pretend to be the spirit of Colonel Weir and to scare the tourists. But who is Colonel Weir, executed for witchcraft in 1670. In his research, Carlin is drawn into the past, in particular to James Mitchel, the fanatic and co-congregationist of Weir's, who was tried in 1676 for the attempted assassination of the Archbishop of St Andrews, James Sharp. Through the story of two moments in history, 'The Fanatic' is an extraordinary history of Scotland. It is also the story of betrayals, witch hunts, Puritan exiles, stolen meetings, lost memories, smuggled journeys and talking mirrors which will confirm James Robertson as a distinctive and original Scottish writer.

The Testament of Gideon Mack is James Robertson's acclaimed novel exploring faith and belief.For Gideon Mack, faithless minister, unfaithful husband and troubled soul, the existence of God, let alone the Devil, is no more credible than that of ghosts or fairies. Until the day he falls into a gorge and is rescued by someone who might just be Satan himself.Mack's testament - a compelling blend of memoir, legend, history, and, quite probably, madness - recounts one man's emotional crisis, disappearance, resurrection and death. It also transports you into an utterly mesmerising exploration of the very nature of belief.Praise'Fascinating, extraordinary, strange, rich' Sunday Telegraph'Overwhelmingly compassionate and thought-provoking. Demands another read' Irvine Welsh, Guardian'Hugely enjoyable, very funny, deeply refreshing . . . its touch of devilry makes it even more of a joy' Herald'Fabulous . . . a work of the highest literary quality' Scotland on Sunday'Astonishingly accomplished, utterly compelling from start to finish . . . could well be the best novel published anywhere this year' Big Issue'James Robertson is a brilliant novelist. It's a long time since I read a novel in which the contemporary notions of faith and belief were so frankly tested' Ali SmithAbout the AuthorJames Robertson is the author of the novels The Fanatic, Joseph Knight, The Testament of Gideon Mack, And the Land Lay Still and The Professor of Truth. The Testament of Gideon Mack was longlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize, picked by Richard and Judy's Book Club, and shortlisted for the Saltire Book of the Year award, and And the Land Lay Still was the winner of the Saltire Book of the Year Award 2010.