Hamish Henderson lived one of the great lives of twentieth century Scotland, a dramatic life of epic European scale, a life of major artistic, political and spiritual achievement. He was well-known as a songwriter, a poet, and a pioneer in the field of Scottish folksong. Henderson was also a highly original translator of poetry - from Gaelic, French, German, Latin and Greek - much of it into Scots. He also translated the work of the Italian socialist Antonio Gramsci, whose Prison Letters he published in English in 1974. Born in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, in 1919, Hamish Henderson spent his early years in Glenshee before moving to Ireland and then Devon. He won a scholarship to Dulwich College and went on to study Modern Languages at Cambridge. During the Second World War, he served in North Africa and Italy with the 51st Highland Division, and personally accepted the surrender of Italy from Marshall Graziani. He died in March 2002. This book, a major study of this charismatic and fascinating man, presents both a detailed biography and assessment of his place in the context of the twentieth century.
It is based on first-hand interviews with those who knew Henderson both personally and professionally as well as detailed research of published and unpublished sources.