Author and broadcaster Raymond Lamont-Brown has produced a fascinating and comprehensive history of St Andrews, from the dawn of Pictish times to the present, based on several decades of residence in the burgh and on original study of its thoroughfares and byways. The book focuses on a lively selection of colorful characters who have made St Andrews what it is, from doughty residents Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair and Cardinal Archbishop David Beaton to illustrious visitors like Mary, Queen of Scots, John Knox and Samuel Johnson. Thousands of others, from artisans to golfers, have contributed to St Andrews' past, to make it a burgh whose history forms the core of Scotland's story.