Holyrood

From 1998 to 2005 film-maker Susan Bain worked on the documentary series The Gathering Place. She has been one of the few outsiders to be granted such exclusive access to the inside story of the new parliament building at Holyrood. This book tells that story.Holyrood has become far more than the story of a building. It is an exploration of Scotland’s long anticipated new democracy, hamstrung by its own incumbents and wrecked by the egotism and ingrained agendas of politicians, journalists and other ‘interested’ parties.Almost everything which has appeared in the public domain over the past five years has been inaccurate – the result of misinformation, wrong information and deliberate untruth. And all this has had a profound impact on how the parliament building – intended as a physical manifestation of the new Scotland – has unfolded. What Holyrood reveals is a nation profoundly self-divided.Powerful, thought-provoking and thoroughly researched, the book explores in great depth the story of Holyrood itself: the first years of devolution and the nature of modern Scotland – stories for which the Holyrood building has become a potent and revealing metaphor. This is the definitive story of a crucial period in Scotland’s history and the controversies that have shaped it.Key Features:*A hard-hitting behind-the-scenes look at the building of the Scottish Parliament*Written by one of the team behind the controversial TV documentary series The Gathering Place

Susan Bain is a writer, producer and researcher. Her credits include The Gathering Place (an independent production for BBC Scotland), Charles Winsdor’s Schooldays and Opinions: Terry Randall (both independent productions for Channel 4).