Scotland For Beginners: Bannockburn an' a' that

by Rupert Besley

A send-up of all things Caledonian by the cartoonist Besley.

Genres: Scotland, Humor, Nonfiction, Travel

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Mbhatia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a quick read and can reasonably be read in an hour or less. It was published in the UK and there is no group more fond of making fun of Scots than the British! To best enjoy the humor in the book, it is best if you know something about Scottish history, geography, food, pronumciation, and customs. It also helps, if you have traveled to Scotland or lived there.

[Mayda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for beginners. You need to know a lot about Scotland to get the jokes.

[Marisa Bantjes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Humorous little book making fun of all the stereotypes about Scotland, its history and its culture. I did not laugh a lot, but then my loved ones say I have no sense of humour.

[Xabier Cid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a very hilarious book, but it's quite interesting to observe how a allegedly neutral eye depicts Scots and Scotland. This neutrality is eventually Englishness, but it's not very relevant. Classical jokes, stereotypes and sometimes a not-shallow knowledge about Scotland also, condensed in an easy-reading book with some extraordinary graphic jokes. It filled my expectations and went farther.

[Mips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarisch reisboekje 'Schotland voor beginners' vol grappige tekeningen en tekstjes.
In 1991 kon je in Schotland her en der ook totaal maffe postkaarten van Besley kopen en daar heb ik er (wild-enthousiast) een hele collectie van aangeschaft...

[Wolf Ostheeren · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Scotland for beginners" is a misleading title, the subtitle is more apt: As you need to know a lot about British history to really enjoy "1066 and all that", you need to know a lot about Scotland to really enjoy this book. I think I got about half of the jokes, but half is already a lot of fun.

[Donna Maguire · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok I didn't particularly enjoy it personally but it's not really my sense of humour