Take a rollercoaster ride through Scotland's fearsome environmental history.

When the icesheet that covered what is now Scotland began to retreat around 12,000 years ago, it revealed a land stripped to its rocky bones but ready to be reclothed in soil, to bear plant life, and to be colonised by animals and humans. So began the formation of Scotland' s environment, opening a story of constantly and still evolving change as climate, weather, disease and human action have shaped and reshaped the land, the waters and all life sustained on and in them.

This book tells the story of this land's rollercoaster ride through past eras of profound climate change that brought bounty or crisis. It traces how climate and weather, and the human population's interaction those forces and with the wider environment of which they are a part - including animal and plant life - shaped the Scotland we know today. The dawning awareness of loss, threat and a need for balance and protection measures to safeguard all our futures is arguably the most pressing crisis we face.

'Breathtaking, ambitious and far-reaching' - Dr Michael Penman, University of Stirling