Scotland

Scotland (Country Guide)
$22.99
Chuck full of information about paces to visit, eat, and sleep. Also has a lot of information on contemporary events and culture. Where it's lacking is in it's maps and depth. The maps are barely adequate and hard to read because they are small. Granted, travel book maps should never be your primary map(it should be michelin or something), it's still nice to have something useable from the book. This was not a problem for me, because i also bought the rough guide to Scotland, which has great maps, but a little less breadth. If you combine those two books(lonelyplanet and Rough guide) you have a winning combo.

The Most Beautiful Villages of Scotland
$40.00
There are many books in the series and they are all good. But since I love Scotland, I specially love this one. You can take a little trip to the Scottish villages from your armchair, or you can sit back and remember your trip and which of the areas you saw for yourself. Or you can look through the book and plan a future trip itinerary.

How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It
$16.00
As non-biased reader (no Scottish roots or ties), I found this a good book. Its coverage of the Scottish Enlightenment is excellent - and this is the best part of the book. He covers both the individuals and their theories very well and its highly readable. However, after he moves on from the Enlightenment, it becomes quite tenuous. Claiming the Scots were responsible for the British Empire, America and Canada is a little bit of a stretch? Also, this book can be a bit of a heavy read at times.

Scotland: The Autobiography 2,000 Years of Scottish History By Those Who Saw It Happen
$35.00
I really love this book. It is informative, thorough, and it reads very easily. I have read it once and am on my second read. It goes from long long ago until recently. Amazing!