BATTLEGROUND PERTHSHIRE is a concise account of the battles and minor military events that have taken place within the county of Perthshire. Comprising two thousand years of battles, raids, rebellions, sieges, riots, feuds, ambushes and skirmishes, Battleground Perthshire shines the spotlight on the military history of Scotland’s big county. Drawn from extensive primary and secondary sources: archives, eyewitness accounts and official records, it tells the fascinating stories of struggles for wealth, power, freedom and the right to self-determination. This chronicle of Perthshire’s military history stands as an important reminder of some of the events that have marked the development of the Scottish people. It will appeal both to the reader interested in the history of Scotland and to those interested in military history.
Battleground Perthshire can be bought from most bookshops in the Perthshire area: The Watermill at Aberfeldy; Sweet Words at Dunkeld; Waterstones - various stores including Perth; WHSmith - Perth and Pitlochry. And, in Perth Museum, the AK Bell Library, Gloagburn Farm Shop, the Brig Farm Shop by Bridge of Earn. Alternatively, it may be purchased for £7.00 with FREE postage and packing to any UK address {Please email for postage costs for locations outside UK}. Send cheque or postal order (payable to Tippermuir Books) to Tippermuir Books, c/o 3 Graham's Place, King Street, Perth, Perth, PH2 8HZ. It can also be bought through most of the UK online (internet) booksellers.
Spanish Thermopylae: Cypriot Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39 SPANISH THERMOPYLÆ is the story of the fifty-seven Cypriots who served in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39. It is also the story of a war that defined the lives of a generation and whose outcome decided the fate of hundreds of millions of people across the world. Drawing on recently released records from the Comintern Archive in Moscow, Spanish Thermopylae will appeal both to the reader interested in the experiences of the Cypriot volunteers, and to anyone looking for a concise history of the Spanish Civil War. 'This is the first book devoted solely to the contribution made by Cypriots to the cause of democracy and progress in the Spanish Civil War. It bears witness to the injustice committed against humanity by fascism in Spain and the inspirational sacrifices made by a small band of Cypriot volunteers. Spanish Thermopylae is a fitting tribute to them, and the International Brigades.' Demetris Christofias, President of the Republic of Cyprus 'True to the best traditions of their Greek forefathers, the heroes of the Greek War of Independence, the Cypriots rallied to the support of Spanish democracy and independence, realising that a defeat for the Spanish people would have meant world war. On the Spanish battlefields was being decided the fate of Europe and with it that of Cyprus. They recognised fascism as the greatest enemy of humanity and volunteered to help crush it... Many Cypriots lie buried in the Spanish soil fighting fascism. Cyprus is proud of her heroic sons who fell in the anti-fascist cause, but the fight is not over. We fight on until fascism is destroyed from the face of the earth.' Ezekias Papaioannou, Cypriot International Brigades volunteer and General Secretary of AKEL (1949-88) "Before many years have passed, their own countries will feel equally proud of the volunteers. That will be their best and highest reward." Juan Negrín, Prime Minister of the Spanish Republic (1937-39). It is available from www.amazon.co.uk
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HISTORY
Thomas Maclagan -Medical Pioneer
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Thomas Maclagan (1838–1903) was a doctor and pharmacologist from Scone. He was medical superintendent at Dundee Royal Infirmary from 1864 to 1866. During this time he had to cope with a major fever epidemic, leading him to pioneer the clinical use of thermometers. His most important work, however, was the research he carried out into the anti-rheumatic effects of salicin, a chemical extracted from willow bark. Maclagan's work was taken up by German researchers who used salicin to develop acetyl-salicylic acid - better known today as aspirin.
Maclagan later moved to London and established a fashionable practice whose patients included Thomas Carlyle and members of the Royal Family. At the time of his death in 1903, it was said that he "deserves a niche in the Temple of Fame as one of the great benefactors of the human race."
"Influenced by the herbalist`s belief that antidotes were to be found in the vicinity of poisons, a Dundee physician, Thomas MacLagan, in November 1874, was the first to use the active principle from willow bark - salicin - to treat a human patient suffering from rheumatic fever.
Shortly after his clinical use of salicin, MacLagan heard of the work of Prof Marcellus von Necki in Basle, Switzerland, who in 1870, had found that salicin is converted into salicylate acid in the body. Around this time, Carl Thiersch, a Leipzig surgeon, was concerned about the damaging effects of carbolic acid and approached Hermann Kolbe, a professor of chemistry, who suggested that a carbolic acid analogue - salicylate acid - might be suitable, and devised a method for synthesising this. In 1874, Thiersch used salicylic acid for the first time - clinically. Carl Buss of St Gallen, Switzerland, used salicylate acid as a routine disinfectant to patients with typhoid and found that although it was an obvious antipyretic, it did not lower the body temperature by curing the typhoid infection. Buss published his findings in 1875. When news of these first, clinical, reports of the antipyretic action reached MacLagan, he gave salicylate acid to patients and also found that it relieved the affliction in his patients without effecting a cure. Another who had heard of Buss`s findings was Frank Strickler of Berlin, who tried salicylic acid in patients suffering from rheumatic fever. By his clinical application, Strickler found that not only did salicylic acid act as an antipyretic but it also had unquestionable value as an anti-rheumatic agent. Strickler published his first report in a German medical journal in January 1876 - two months before MacLagan`s own paper appeared in the `Lancet`. All of the findings had come through clinical experience - without any experiments on animals."
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