Now 82 years old, Alastair Reid is one of Scotland's foremost literary figures but his work is currently out of print in the UK (most recent publication is Canongate's "Oases" from 1997 but this represented only a fraction of his work). The bulk of his prose has long been unavailable, so this wide-ranging new collection of prose will present a fresh and comprehensive overview of his achievements, and will appeal to existing fans and new readers.Admired worldwide as a supreme craftsman in poetry, prose and translation, Reid is a key figure in modern Scottish literature, a man who represents through his life and work the cosmopolitan internationalism Scotland aspires to. Friend and confidant of some of the giants of 20th-century literature, he has written definitive appreciations of Robert Graves, Pablo Neruda, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cabrera Infante and Mario Vargas Llosa, as well as proving to be one of the most acute and acerbic observers of modern Scotland and what it is to be Scottish. As Scotland finds and defines its place in the global scene, his work has never been more relevant.