Scotland after the Ice Age - book review

Scotland after the Ice Age: Environment, Archaeology and History, 8000BC - AD1000. 
Edited by Kevin J Edwards and Ian BM Ralston

I was delighted to win this book in a Twitter competition from Edinburgh University Press. I was offered a choice of any of their paperback books and felt very much spoilt for choice as they have a wide range of books on various topics. This one though particularly appealed to me for its mix of history and environmental studies.

This is of course, an academic book, so it's written in an academic style. The text is backed up with lots of diagrams, graphs and photos. The book studies 'the nature and extent of human-environment interactions {between} the final melting of the interglacial ice sheets' and the early historical period. It looks at how early people in Scotland were affected by the environment around them and how they in turn affected that environment. The book gives a fascinating overview of this often overlooked area of human prehistory and early history, relying on archaeology and pollen analysis to recreate Scotland as it used to be.

The book covers the changing landscape, soil formation, the changing flora and fauna, the changing climate and the many waves of immigration that swept through Scotland and the islands - including the Vikings and to a lesser extent the Romans.

For anyone who wants to delve deeper into the topics, there is a very comprehensive reading list at the back of the book.

Scotland after the Ice Age: Environment, Archaeology and History, 8000BC - AD1000.
Edited by Kevin J Edwards and Ian BM Ralston published by Edinburgh University Press.

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.