The Poor Had No Lawyers: Who Owns Scotland and How They Got it by Andy Wightman

Andy Wightman worked as a ghillie, environmental scientist, and an environmental campaigner before becoming a writer and researcher. He is the author of several books, including the best-selling Who Owns Scotland, and a prominent analyst and critic of land reform process.

He joins us to talk on the new edition of The Poor had no Lawyers, which has been described as "one of the defining literary and scholarly works of modern Scotland."

Who owns Scotland? How did they get it? What happened to all the common land in Scotland? Has the Scottish Parliament made any difference? Can we get our common good land back?

In this new edition, Andy updates the statistics of landownership in Scotland and explores how and why landowners got their hands on the millions of acres of land that were once held in common.

He tells the untold story of how Scotland's legal establishment and politicians managed to appropriate land through legal fixes. Have attempts to redistribute this power more equitably made any difference, and what are the full implications of the recent debt-fuelled housing bubble, the Smith Commission and the new Scottish Government's proposals on land reform?

For all those with an interest in urban and rural land in Scotland, this updated edition of The Poor Had No Lawyers provides a fascinating analysis of one the most important political questions in Scotland.

'Superlative' ~ The Scotsman

'Frank, fearless and at times ferocious - a remarkable book' ~ Herald

'An essential guide to who owns Scotland and why land reform has flowered there in recent years'

~ The Guardian (the best books about land and power 2020)

'A more important book about Scottish land ownership has yet to be written'

~ David Ross, Press and Journal