Complete Book of Tartan - Tapa dura

This book contains illustrations of up to 400 tartans, making it the most comprehensive directory of tartans, both ancient and modern, ever published. It details the cultural and historical development of Scotland, and her determination to maintain political independence and national identity. It illustrates how tartan is used to unite and identify a diverse ancestral tradition. Here the brave history of this romantic cloth is examined in detail, covering the span of Scotland's history and the manner in which tartan was enmeshed in her struggle for international independence and cultural identity. The history of Scotland is a long and rich one, and the story of tartan is inextricably woven into it, but tartan is also very much part of the modern world, both as a continuing tradition and as a declaration of affiliation, by Scots all around the globe. In this book is an unprecedented collection of tartans, ancient and modern, traditional and obscure, mainstream and idiosyncratic, from the major clans who have dominated Scotland's destiny, to today's individuals and societies who use tartan to declare an allegiance.

Iain Zaczek is a writer with a background in art history. Born in Dundee and educated at Wadham College, Oxford, and the Courtauld Institute of Art, he has extensively researched and written about Celtic legend and culture. His work includes: The Book of Scottish Names (Cico Books); Chronicles of the Celts; The Book of Kells (Collins & Brown); Irish Legends (Contemporary Books); Celtic Art and Design (Studio Editions); and The Clans and Tartans of Scotland (Lorenz Books). Charles Phillips is an established writer of popular history and was a contributor to Cassell's Dictionary of Modern Britain and Ancient Civilizations; and illustrated histories published by Dorling Kindersley, Guinness and Marshall Editions. He has a keen interest in British history and the story of the Royal Family and was a key writer of Time Life's Myth and Mankind series, which blends mythology with the art and history of ancient cultures. Charles is a graduate of Oxford University and holds an MA from the University of Westminster, London.