Lockhart, Sir Robert Bruce
Scotch - The Whisky of Scotland in fact and story

Neil Wilson Publishing LTD, ISBN 1-897784-37-6, GBP 7.99, First Published 1995, 190 Pages, 21,5 x 14 cm, Paperback

Scotch Whisky is arguable the world’s most successful spirit and this book is one of the most popular ever written on the subject. Now fully updated and revised by the late author’s son, Robin, Scotch – The Whisky of Scotland in Fact and Story, is the most entertaining and informative book on the subject. First published in 1951, this seventh edition covers the beginning of distilling through the development of the craft and introduces the reader to some of the great Victorian whisky barons like Tommy Dewar and James Buchanan who took the business world by storm at the end of the 19th Century.

Throughout his remarkable life, Bruce Lockhart’s love of Scotch and its value to the Scottish community was well-known. His views on governmental interference in the rightful access to the national tipple have become even more relevant today when the industry faces enormous difficulties in convincing Westminster that it is failing to safeguard this national treasure.

Scotch – The Whisky of Scotland in Fact and Story is not only a much needed addition to the whisky bookshelf but also an essential travel companion when visiting Scotland.

The life and work of Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart (1887-1970) was extraordinarily varied. Primarily a diplomat, he help posts in the Foreign Office serving Russia during the First World War where he was accused of plotting to assassinate Lenin and imprisoned in the Kremlin until exchanged for Litvinov. He served in Czechoslovakia and worked in the late 1920’s for Beaverbrook Newspapers until he took up writing full time. He returned to the Foreign Office in the Second World War when he was the Director-General of Political Warfare. He returned successfully to writing after the war and had a prolific output before his death in 1970. The most constant aspect of his life was his love and understanding in Scotland and Scotch Whisky.