This new selection by Ian Rankin of verses and lyrics from Scotland's national poet reveals a writer capable of evoking tremendous sympathetic power from his readers and a command of the sounds and rhythms of both standard English and the evocative Scots tongue It also reveals an artist of incredible range His 'Tam O' Shanter', with its midnight pursuit of witches from a grisly graveyard dance, is gripping, fantastical and funny in equal measure, 'Is there for honest poverty' beautifully expresses the egalitarian spirit by which Burns became a political hero for so many, and sentiments both romantic ('Ae Fond Kiss') and bawdy ('The Fornicator') co-exist in this selection