Scottish history has been “neglected” by schools, Education Secretary Michael Russell claimed last week as he launched a new online resource exploring the historic and cultural links between Scotland and Canada.

A publisher, meanwhile, has claimed that cash-strapped schools are struggling to find the funding for Scottish history materials.

Hodder Gibson’s new Higher history series was launched in response to the Government’s aim to promote the teaching of Scottish history in schools.

The series, edited by John Kerr, principal teacher of history at Edinburgh’s Balerno High, offers a topic-based approach to the new syllabus. The four titles, which cover popular core topics in Papers 1 and 2, are: Scotland amp; Britain and Germany; The Scottish Wars of Independence 1286-1328; The Treaty of Union 1689-1740; and Scotland and the Impact of the Great War 1914-1928.

Now schools just need to find the money to buy the books, said Hodder Gibson’s managing director, John Mitchell.

www.ltscotland.org.ukscotsandcanada.