Essence of Edinburgh

This is an exceptional guide to Edinburgh by Jenni Calder if you are looking for more than a superficial knowledge of the city with its blood drenched history, and its outstanding cultural traditions, past and present. Calder has long term connections with the city and shares her fascinating indepth knowledge, interspersed with photographs (black and white on my kindle). It is a guide that makes the reader see the city through the ages with historical documents, and through the eyes of novelists, poets, journalists and more. For Calder, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson are writ large on the city, and she prioritises getting to know Edinburgh through its walks as it is eminently walkable. Calder provides a useful historical timeline at the end of the book, of key events that begin in 1100 right through to 2017, with the opening of the Queensferry crossing.

Edinburgh has an established history in learning and the arts. Although now known as a football club, The Heart of Midlothian is a 19th century Scott novel published in 1818 capturing the politics and history as we see Edinburgh of the character, Reuben Butler as does Scott's novel Waverly and John Buchan's Midwinter. Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Ian Rankin's Rebus series and Alexander McCall Smith's books all contribute their portraits of the city, along with the poets Robert Fergusson and Robert Burns. Edinburgh's pioneering contribution to the medical profession is not forgotten with its dark history of Burke and Hare.

These insights into the history of Edinburgh with its unusual approach has obviously been a labour of love for Jenni Calder and I can do nothing but thank her for it. It is richly detailed and written to give the reader wide ranging perpectives of Edinburgh in its many versions. It is not a substitute for a more indepth historical study of the city, but it is the next best thing if you want to add layers to your knowledge and utilise its broad and diverse sources. I was under the impression that I knew Edinburgh relatively well, but Calder expanded my horizons by adding so much to what I know. A brilliant guide to Edinburgh and in my view, invaluable. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Luath Press for an ARC.

Think one of my favourite things about Essence of Edinburgh was that it did in fact dare to leave the city centre, which I've personally find rare when it comes to books about the capital. Calder has a very personable style and has obviously done a lot of research here, there were a few things that came up that I'd previously never heard of before.

Definitely one of the better books about Edinburgh in the last few years.