Blurb:

This new illustrated edition of Whit if? takes you on a delightful journey through the corridors of Scottish history, where the whimsical meets the counter-factual in the most unexpected ways.

McMillan poses the questions that you never thought to ask about Scottish history like:
Whit if Alexander haed Twitter?
Whit if John Knox haed fawen in luve wi Mary Queen o Scots?
Whit if Jacques Brel haed jynt the Corries?

As both poet and long-time student and teacher of Scotland’s strange and undervalued history, McMillan is the ideal guide to all the micht-hiv-bins of Scottish history, as well as all that wis. Humour is guaranteed, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be digging up many an educational gem along the way!

Reviews:

There is more than an air of fun in the concept but to file this book under ‘whimsy’ or ‘nonsense’ would be to completely miss the careful craft and considered structure that is so emblematic of Hugh’s poetry and which makes Whit If> worth of your attention and yer bawbees. NORTHWORDS NOW

His work, always of the highest quality, has done much to preserve and enhance the culture of Dumfries and Galloway, and Scotland. His passion for poetry is self-evident. His humour enables him to make the points more po-faced writers can’t. A brilliant writer and champion of our languages and history. ANNE BARCLAY Operation Director, Wigtown Book Festival

Here is the Scotland you might have had, the Scotland you dreamed of... and the Scotland that may yet be a reality for us all! RAB WILSON

Praise for Hugh McMillan:

[A] witty and whimsical tour of his homeland – SCOTLAND MAGAZINE on McMillan’s Galloway

McMillan’s imagination has a mind of its own. – THE HERALD on Not Actually Being in Dumfries

In a Scottish literary scene crowded with excellence, McMillan is unique in the angle and tone of his attack on the familiar. – IAN DUHIG on Heliopolis

One of our ablest and most entertaining writers – pure and simple – ALISTAIR FINDLAY.

Hugh McMillan’s poetry… works like resonant and intricately packed short stories – LESLEY GLAISTER, Author of Blasted Things.

McMillan handles language deftly and lightly, paints vivid images, subverts our expectations. He challenges and engages us – NORTHWORDS NOW on Heliopolis.