INSURRECTION: SCOTLANDS FAMINE WINTER (PB)

When Scotland's potato crop was wiped out by blight in 1846, the country was plunged into crisis. In the Hebrides and West Highlands, a huge relief effort came too late to prevent starvation. Towns and villages from Aberdeen to Thurso rose up in protest at the soaring cost of oatmeal. Grain carts were seized, ships boarded, harbours blockaded, a jail forced open. The army fired on one set of rioters. Long ignored or forgotten, these dramatic events are recounted by renowned historian James Hunter.