From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Irvine Welsh--a fresh look at an ancient region's connection to the written word

 

Edinburgh enjoys a long and impressive literary heritage and can claim connections with some of the world's most famous writers. This history mixes anecdotes, musings, and serious analysis to explore the impact of the city upon literature. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sir Walter Scott were all natives of the city, while Robert Burns, Charles Dickens, J. M. Barrie, and Samuel Johnson were just a few of those who forged links with what William Cobbett described as "the finest city in the kingdom." Edinburgh has provided the setting for countless novels over the years, not least in more recent times with Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting. The book concludes with a look at Edinburgh's impressive annual International Book Festival, "the biggest celebration of the written word in the world."