If you go into any bookshop in Edinburgh you will be confronted with a vast array of books on Edinburgh and Scotland. But which to choose to enhance your enjoyment and knowledge? Apart from the 'obvious' guidebooks, below are a few suggestions from people who live in the Old Town.
Pocket Guides and Walking Tours
Michael & Elspeth Wills, Walks in Edinburgh's Old Town. Takes you into the hidden corners as well as describing the main buildings and streets. There is a companion volume for Walks in Edinburgh's New Town.
Jane Peyton, Looking Up in Edinburgh. A different view of the city, its landmarks and buildings.
Picture Books and Souvenirs
Douglas Corrance & Karen Fitzpatrick, Edinburgh: An Illustrated Journey. Text and photos take you on a journey from the Old Town to the outskirts of Edinburgh.
Colin Baxter, Edinburgh. Not just the skyline and blue sky, but the nooks and corners and all weathers.
Malcolm Cant, Edinburgh's Old Town and its Environs. Historical photographs of the buildings of the Old Town and the people who lived and worked there.
Miroslav Sasek, This is Edinburgh. Delightful and evocative paintings of Edinburgh by the Czech artist who visited in 1961.
Architecture
Charles McKean, Edinburgh: An Illustrated Architectural Guide. Small enough to fit into a pocket or handbag yet full of information about Edinburgh's development and its buildings. Inexplicably out-of-print but available second-hand.
Colin McWilliam, David Walker & John Gifford, The Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh. The authoritative (and heavyweight) architectural guide and history.
Hamish Coghill, Lost Edinburgh. A history of the development of Edinburgh through the buildings that are no more.
History
Arthur Herman, The Scottish Enlightenment. A history of the time when Edinburgh was 'a hotbed of genius' and one could stand at the Mercat Cross and 'in a few minutes take fifty men of genius by the hand'.
A J Youngson, The Making of Classical Edinburgh. Although 40 years old and mostly about the New Town, it begins with an unrivalled description of when Edinburgh was the Old Town.
Historical (but still in print)
Chiang Yee, The Silent Traveller in Edinburgh (1948). A whimsical view of Edinburgh from a Chinese writer.
Robert Louis Stevenson, Picturesque Notes (1879). Nobody describes the topography or weather better.
Henry Cockburn, Memorials of His Time (1856). A first-hand account of life in the capital during the Age of Enlightenment.
Robert Chambers, Traditions of Edinburgh (1824 & 1868). Anecdotes of 18th century Edinburgh and the characters who lived there.
Fiction
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is ostensibly set in London but it was inspired by Edinburgh and the story of Deacon Brodie.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark has scenes in the Royal Museum and National Gallery.
The Fanatic by James Robertson takes one back to Edinburgh and the case of Major Weir in the turbulent 17th century.
Many crime novels are set in Edinburgh, epitomized by Ian Rankin's Rebus series. The Skinner novels by Quentin Jardine are a rattling good read. Payment Deferred by Joyce Holms is an exciting yet humorous whodunnit.
The novels by Paul Johnston are set in a future when the city has been given over entirely to the tourists.
For Children
Reading Round Edinburgh is a guide to children's fiction set in and around Edinburgh.
Our City is a collection of short stories based in Edinburgh written children by nine authors for upper-primary children. The Old Town stories are Word of Crow by Viv French and The Boy With No Name by Nicola Morgan.
The story of Greyfriar's Bobby has been told best by Eleanor Atkinson, Lavinia Derwent and, as a picture book, by Ruth Brown.
The Chaos Clock by Gill Arbuthnot and The Seven Professors of the Far North, The Flight of the Silver Turtle and Black Moth are fantasies set in the Royal Museum.
Historical adventures include At the Sign of the Black Dagger by Joan Lingard (set on the Royal Mile); Traitors' Gate (Edinburgh Castle in the Wars of Independence) and Dead Man's Close (RLS connection) by Catherine MacPhail.
For teenagers
Fleshmarket by Nicola Morgan is a dark tale about Dr Knox (who bought corpses from Burke & Hare) - strong stuff.
Scottish
Charity no SC009217