Customer Reviews

In Search of Ancient Scotland, A Guide for The Independent Traveler

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If you're off to Scotland in search of ancestral roots or the remains of them and want to travel the roads less taken, IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT SCOTLAND may prove useful. Gerald and Dorothy Ruzicki have collected material about Scotland from web sites and references guides (listed in an appendix section), and their own travel experiences, and created a somewhat unique guide.

The guide is organized into eight regions in Scotland and every site within each region is rated with 0-3 stars. The focus of the guide is historical places 5000 BC to 1700 AD, so Culloden Moor, for example, is not included in the `Index of Sites'. Included selections are organized along a time line in an appendix so that if, for example, you only wanted to visit only Medieval places you could do so. Appreciative of the popularity of "Braveheart" the Ruzickis include a good deal of information about Stirling and Bannockburn and other locations associated with William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. Apparently, Stirling has much to recommend it beyond the `Braveheart' connections, not the least of which is an easy drive from Glasgow or Perth.

What may be of great interest to the traveler with an "antiquarian" bent and plenty of time to drive to more remote areas, are ancient sites such as the `Standing Stones of Callanish' (Calanais) that rival Stonehenge; `Dun Trodden' and `Dun Telve' in the Northwest Highlands; and `Mousa Broch' that can only be reached by ferry across a temperamental sea. Later period sites closer to the central cities such as Jedburgh Abbey founded in 1138 by David I; Traquair built in 1107 AD and continuously inhabited since; or the ruins of Castle Tioram where Robert the Bruce once lived are also identified.

There are many interesting and useful books on Scotland, but if you're brave enough to travel independently and hankering to find ancient sites not always included in mainstream publications, check out this book. In addition to the "where to go" and "what to see", the Ruzicki's include much practical information about traveling independently, including a chapter on driving in Scotland.

In Search Of Ancient Scotland guides the independent traveler through Scotland's countryside to more than 200 ancient sites ranging from the Stone Age to the Renaissance. Jerry and Dodie Ruzicki have traveled extensively in Scotland seeking out ancient monuments that would best represent the diversity and volume of Scotland's prehistoric and antiquarian treasures. In Search Of Ancient Scotland these two intrepid travelers share Scotland's past in a lively, engaging, friendly narrative enhanced with numerous b/w and color photos conveying the majesty of the monuments and the magic of the landscape. Also addressed for the reader is a compendium of practical information such as driving on the left, managing roundabouts and one-lane roads, rights of trespass and courtesy, language and money differences, and more. A descriptive timeline helps the reader to distinguish various eras; an index of sites facilitates finding them quickly; a glossary defines common historical, archaeological and Scottish terms; and references are suggested for further reading and study. Whether armchair traveler or on-site vacationer, In Search Of Ancient Scotland will prove as engaging as it is authoritatively informative.

I was so glad to have this useful book during my trip to Scotland! It has excellent descriptions, explanations, history, and stories for ancient monuments, most of which aren't covered in normal guide books. Without this book, I would have missed so many interesting places - never knowing there was a cairn right next to the road or megaliths in the next farmer's field! Plus, there are planning maps and excellent driving instructions, which you'll NEED for some hard-to-find sites!

History-hunters will revel in this unique self-published book on the sites and people of ancient Scotland. History comes alive through this fascinating book, which rates and describes hundreds of Scottish historical sites from the Stone Age through to the Renaissance. If castles, cairns, and cathedrals are on your things to see list in Scotland, search out this book.

This book was simply wonderful. I purchased this book to help me plan a trip to Scotland this year, and I am so glad I did. The authors give a detailed descrpition of each site and give it a rating to help you, the traveller, prioritize. They also give some pretty handy directions for locating the sites as well (we found every one we looked for, even some that were far off the beaten track).

There were so many wonderful sites I would never have found without this book, and it reeally helped to make a trip that I will never forget.

Another handy use for this book is that after I got the pictures from the trip I wanted to make a journal of my trip. The information and history provided in the book was hugely helpful in filling in the mental gaps and refreshing my memory of the visit.

An excellent resource. Don't tour ancient Scotland without it.

We just returned from a visit to prehistoric sites in the Highlands of Scotland, Skye and Lewis. Of all the guidebooks we took along, this was by far the most helpful, with very accurate directions for finding the sites (many of which we would never have found without it!) and good descriptions of all the aspects of the sites as well. Don't even try to go there without it!

A useful book if you're planning a trip, know where you're going, and want to add some very old, off-the-beaten-track sites. If you're planning a trip and trying to figure out what part of Scotland to visit, another guide such as the Michelin is probably more useful as the latter guide differentiates better between the must see sites and those of only modest interest.

This is an unusual travel book and it is geared for the self guided. For instance, the book gives directions to fields where ancient underground houses were made to protect the iron age people that resided there. The whole country is an archaeologist's dream, as peat moss has things well preserved. Directions are given to remote crumbling castles and as there are no trespassing laws in Scotland, you can walk through farmer's pastures to reach your site. The authors give great information for off the beathen things to see. It has been well researched.

In Search of Ancient Scotland is a valuable resource, not just because it acts as a travel guide to those out-of-the-way places, but also for the insight it gives for the road-tripper in a foreign country. They travel like I like to travel (not vacation), on my own, with my own agenda and schedule, seeing the things that interest me. It's clear that this couple has actually been to the places that they've written about, experienced the weather and peat and sheep, and not just pulled information off of a website - which many of the travel books seem to have done. These are clearly people who not only love Scotland, but genuinely love the discovery of it. They also give heads-up on things one doesn't always consider, like ferry schedules and bringing extra torches for certain places, or wellies, and I greatly appreciate their disclosing the hidden gems that they stumbled apon while searching for something else. I always consult their book before heading over to bonny Scotland.

Husband and I used this book extensively on our two week driving trip to Scotland. Can't recommend it highly enough. Unfortunately, we managed to leave our copy in a B&B, but immediately came home and bought another.