'...lovingly evoked ...isn’t an idle intellectual exercise ...laid out in poetic form, captures the music of speech ...love & respect shines through in this book ...one of the finest pieces of social history I’ve ever read’ - MARK STEVEN, THE SCOTTISH CONNECTION, BBC RADIO SCOTLAND
‘...for thousands of people across the country their attitudes, lifestyles and opinions have been formed through an industry which was once the envy of the world ...captures the essence of the feelings of the time’ - LINDSAY GOULD, THE WEST LOTHIAN COURIER
‘…the mighty shale bings of West Lothian seem to be a secret which remarkably few outsiders share… how beautifully their russet grit glows in dawn or evening light’ - ANGUS CALDER, THE SCOTSMAN
'Findlay records their voices, as sharp and red as the rock they worked… their voices are also, in a strange way, freed. Findlay, himself a poet, lays them out on the page as poetry to capture the ‘dynamics of conversation’. The result is to recreate the directness, simplicity and power of everyday speech.' - JOHN FOSTER, THE MORNING STAR
'The real and rounded history of the people… important, informative, captivating and inspiring, speckled with hardship and humour, it is well worth a read.' - JOHN STEVENSON, SCOTLAND IN UNISON
‘…the class solidarity and sense of sharing with neighbours in good times and bad could enhance the world of today. Alistair Findlay says it much better than I can… do you not feel echoes of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song in this man’s writing?’ WILLIAM WOLFE, SCOTS INDEPENDENT
