My A-Z of Scotland!

Advantages: Great character
Disadvantages: Heavy drinkers

...The A-Z of? Would all Scottish people please take a big pinch of salt before reading this?lol! The best thing to come out of Scotland is the A74, of course. Who doesn?t want to get out of Glasgow fast, now Western Europe?s most deprived city. One in four of the working population is apparently not, and so on Incapacity Benefit or Jobseekers, mostly because the City of Culture (cough!) has the highest amount of smokers, heart disease, and alcoholism rates anywhere in Western Europe. I can only imagine how painful the smoking ban was up there. But if the pungent Alex Samond gets his way he will probably cancel the smoking ban, too, to win back some delinquent vote?s next election and pep back up Scotland?s biggest industry?bingo! A is for Andrew Murray, the best thing to come out of Scotland, sporting wise. What I like about...

thedevilinme 14.02.2010 · Read review
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Review of General: Scotland

The Last King of Scotland

Advantages: Great acting, story to be told
Disadvantages: Gruesome

...The Last King of Scotland is a story, inspired by real people and events about the life of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The film came out in 2006 and was one that I really enjoyed. In my opinion it's well portrayed, beautifully acted, tense and gripping and one you really have to watch. Idi Amin is played by Forest Whitaker and he gives a truly haunting portrail. He's really quite scary in this film at the same time as being really captivating and interesting and it's no coincidence that people fall for his charms. I think he actually bears a little resembalance to the dictator himself and so this definitely made the look and character more believeable. In fact, it's not jsut me who thinks Forest did a great job. He won the Best Actor award at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and the BAFTAs for his role...

Spottydog11 14.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Last King Of Scotland (DVD)

Uganda or Scotland?

Advantages: Great performances, Tense, Compelling viewing
Disadvantages: Factually inaccurate

...One of the most misleading film/book titles ever in my opinion! So what is the film about? Is it any good? ------------------------------------------------------- This is the tale of how the films protagonist Dr Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) is taken under the wing of Ugandan president, Idi Amin (Forrest Whitaker). Amin just so happens to be a brutal dictator with a bit of a problem with trusting people. Garrigan had just finished university and felt like he was trapped into following on in exactly the same manner as his father, being a doctor in Scotland. He decided he needed to make a clean break and therefore flew out to Uganda for serving both the purposes of being great help to the health of the locals and also to gain some sense of adventure. On a chance meeting, Amin expresses his somewhat bizarre love of Scotland...

shanediablo 19.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Last King Of Scotland (DVD)

Real History!

Advantages: Informative, detailed, well-researched and well argued
Disadvantages: Not the easiest of reads

...Overview: In Defence of History by Richard J Evans is an effective baseline yet intellectually detailed argument for rational historical investigation. I highly recommend to anyone who has been bamboozled by the idea that history is just one person?s opinion. It is an academic book written for a mainstream audience to help explain the validity of history in response to the mounting popularity of postmodern historical criticism. The book was written in 1997 and the latest edition, including a lengthy afterword written by the author was published in 2000. Each chapter is interlinked, but can be viewed as lectures divided up into an average of four to five parts. Contents: Introduction 1. The History of History 2. History, Science and Morality 3. Historians and their Facts 4. Sources and Discourses 5. Causation in History 6. Society...

BlackSwan 06.03.2010 · Read review
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Review of In Defence of History - Richard J. Evans

My time in Scotland

Advantages: too many too list
Disadvantages: hmm, hardly any, it's just different and that's why I went there!

...My experience with Scotland I've spent two wonderful months in Scotland in summer of 2005, it seems so far away, but when I look at the pictures, I'm right back there...It was a wonderful experience both from the view of a tourist as well as a language student. I did think my English was kind of good even back then, but coming to western Scotland was a bit of a shock as the accent and dialect people speak there was much more difficult for me to understand than let's say how they talk in London. Ok, so for the first week or so I had to keep my ears super opened and concentrate on everything they said. That was both frustrating as I had a job there and this was an extra hurdle to cope with, but also great fun as I have learnt (and by now also forgotten most of it, I admit) some dialect and I tried to absorb their accent. I loved...

jeaniecz 15.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of General: Scotland

Scotland, as seen through the eyes of the 'Big Yin'

Advantages: A great guide to Scotland, beautiful scenery.
Disadvantages: Stand up ahow not included on DVD edition

...stones at the Ring of Brogar. Along the way, Billy talks to some of the locals, samples a smokie in Arbroath and educates the viewer about the Scottish weather :- "In Scotland, there is no such thing as bad weather - only the wrong clothes." The landscape and scenery is simply stunning and also watching this series gives you a great insight into Scottish history and culture. A lot of people planned visits and holidays in Scotland after this series was aired back in 1994, such is the impact the series has on you when you watch it. I would imagine the Scottish tourist board were quite grateful to Billy Connolly! It certainly serves as a great tourist guide to Scotland. Intertwined with the visits to various places, is footage of Billy's stand up shows whilst on the tour. Billy talks of the places he has visited with his usual observational...

JEFFJEN 28.01.2010 · Read review
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Review of Billy Connolly - World Tour Of Scotland (DVD)

History of the ashes sport dvd

Advantages: Read Opp
Disadvantages: Read Opp

...history of the ashes Back in eighteen eighty two a test match series between england and australia started a regular feature for cricket fans. The eighteen eighty two series provided a victory for england, and it was the australian's who got a request granted to play a fourth test match, and whilst they won, it was england who got to keep the famous ern where the ashes are kept. The series is played every two years, though only once every four years back here in England. this dvd lasts two hours eleven minutes, and it provides a historical platform in terms of cricketing. clips shown of great catches, supreme batting performances, and legendary bowlers of cricket's all time, hall of cricketing fame. The dvd also is interesting to see how world war one and two affected english cricket. the results of the ashes are mainly...

costas1234 25.04.2008 (19.06.2009) · Read review
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Review of History Of The Ashes (DVD)

History Deary not Dreary.

Advantages: Fun and informative
Disadvantages: none

...I bought "Ten Horrible Histories" from a book club we run at school. They cost me £10 for the set which was an excellent bargain. They are marked at £4.99 each. The books are paperback with approximately 127/130 pages in each. They are easy and interesting to read for young children with a reading age of about eight. Boys of this age especially, sometimes find reading boring just as the author states that history can be boring. All of the books have a contents and introduction page. The books are interesting and very cleverly written. If a child finds reading a page of text difficult they can read the comic strip or the jokes and an adult could share the book with them by reading the text. There are quizzes and in some books questions to ask the teacher, so the teacher must read the book too! There are rhyme words, lists...

teacherofhooch 19.08.2006 · Read review
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Review of Horrible Histories

History at Keele

Advantages: Great scenery, fun lecturers, wide range of topics
Disadvantages: Disorganistion of admin

...I'm a current second year at Keele University studying American Studies and History. I love the place, it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere and that suits me to a t. History has always been a passion of mine and I love spending my spare time visiting museums and reading books, so a degree studying the subject seemed a good idea to me! The history department at Keele is pretty much like any other department in Keele - pretty disorganised but run by a fantastic bunch of people! The secretaries in the office are great and answer any queries quickly and the lecturers range from grumpy old sods to young "hip" PHD student lecturers. So there's a wide range of learning for all. *Year One* All first year history students study a set outline. In the first semester this involves 'Modern History', which is mostly taught through 10...

nutter_but_nice 04.04.2007 · Read review
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Review of History

Study Scotland's Past

Advantages: Good choice of courses at all levels, for all abilities
Disadvantages: In first year, book availability poor, first year tutors not always as good as in later years

..., and that all the Scots in my class would have an advantage, but this was far from the truth! The course I took in first year was a survey course – covering events from the 12th to the 18th century, and including political, social, religious and cultural developments. The first module, entitled “Mediaeval Scotland, 1100-1542: Independence and Nationhood” focused on the independent Scottish nation in the middle ages. It began with the impact of the Anglo-Normans on Scotland, and then went on to deal with the struggle against England in the Wars of Independence. It made some use of primary sources (for example, the Declaration of Arbroath) – useful preparation for honours level, though personally I would have liked to have used documents a little more – compared to medieval history for example which had a lot...

weebagpuss 12.04.2001 · Read review
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Review of Scottish History