Scotch on the Rocks

The true story behind Whisky Galore

This is the true story about Whisky Galore boat the SS Politician, which went down on 4 February 1941 with 240,000 bottles of whisky and £3m in Jamaican notes on board. (£90 million at today's value - now thought to have been funds for the Royal Family, should Hitler have succeeded in invading and they had needed to leave the UK in a hurry).... During WW2, while Arthur Swinson was serving as an army officer in India, his Hebridean driver told him about the SS Politician going down 'with all that whisky', his curiosity to find out what really happened further sparked when Whisky Galore was published.

Originally published in 1963, Scotch on the Rocks carried rave reviews and was serialised in The Scotsman. The fact that this moustachioed Englishman from the Home Counties was able to persuade so many normally reticent folk to give him the information of what really happened out there on Eriskay Sound, was testament to his dogged determination. The real story behind Compton Mackenzie's magical tale was much darker, more commercial and yet very human. In spite of being written over 40 years ago, the book is a wonderful pacy read. A howdunnit, with all the corners covered.

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