The story of Falkland in the years before the Great War. A little Scottish town still proud of its status as a Royal Burgh, with its Provost and Town Council.

A rich cast of characters, from the young Laird in his great house, to the 12-year-old twins birched for stealing a penny and two apples. A thriving social scene: sports clubs, dances, lectures, Lodge dinners, and sales of work. The two churches and their ministers, still leaders of society.

Most of the local places mentioned are still recognisable today, and motor cars, telephones, electricity, and piped water were already coming into use. But the social hierarchy, vividly brought to life in these pages, now seems like a different world.

Compiled from Falkland Estate archives, correspondence, and contemporary newspaper reports, supplemented by an introduction, notes on selected people and 300+ places, and an index with over 2,000 main entries. 62 black and white illustrations in the text and four maps.

Supported by a grant from the Falkland War Memorial Trust

Great credit is due to the author and to the others who assisted in the researches of this fascinating book, and to the author of the Introduction, which sets the context. It is so much more than a town diary, indeed it is a valuable addition to the canon of social history, and deserves to be read far beyond Falkland, Fife, and Scotland.
— from the review by Bill Pagan MBE WS

Full of fascinating detail, this is a book to dip into in search of local insights prior to great changes that would see so many of the people in the narrative of this community swept away as war engulfed the world.
— from the review by Dr David M. Munro MBE