The Wilderness Years

James Crawford's latest book reveals some of the fascinating historic places in Scotland that nature has reclaimed over time

- DAWN GEDDES

AWARD-WINNING writer and broadcaster James Crawford has enjoyed an extraordinary career.

The Shetland-born author, who presents the BBC One documentary series Scotland From The Sky, has written eight non-fiction titles - including the critically acclaimed The Edge Of The Plain - How Borders Make And Break Our World.

In his latest book, Wild History Journeys Into Lost Scotland, James examines historic locations which have been reclaimed by nature.

On his beginnings as a writer, James says, "I knew I wanted to be a writer from the age of six, but I ended up pursuing a law degree.

"Very quickly, I realised I wasn't going to be a lawyer. I found it incredibly boring. When it came to my honours subjects, I found myself writing non-fiction essays on really interesting topics. I think in many ways that shaped the writing career I've gone on to have."

After university, James spent eight years in London as a literary agent. When he came back to Scotland he worked for and researched Scotland's National Collection of architecture and archaeology.

"When I took up the position, the archive had just turned 100 and was looking for someone to spend time working out how to tell its story, and the stories that it contained, to the public," he says. "I found myself gravitating towards their aerial photography collections and that led to me writing my first non-fiction title on the subject."

While he was working in the archive, James had the idea of telling the stories of buildings in biography form, as if they were people.

This went on to become his first major non-fiction book Fallen Glory - The Lives And Deaths Of The World's Greatest Lost Buildings.

After a radio interview, James was approached about opportunities at the BBC, which resulted in him writing and presenting the TV programme Scotland From The Sky-catapulting him into an entirely different medium.