People get bored by history books full of kings and battles. And it's the same for rock'n'roll history books full of nothing more than stars and hits.

Yes, you'll find plenty of names you know in this lightning-fast rollercoaster ride down Memory Lane.

Members of Del Amitri, Nazareth, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, the Bay City Rollers, Primal Scream, the Beatstalkers, the Soup Dragons, the Vaselines, the Clyde Valley Stompers and Gene Vincent's band are amongst the speakers.

But you'll also meet people - REAL¿people - who made less well-known¿but still important contributions to the Scottish rock and pop scene over its first 50 years.

Big Noise From a Wee Country is packed with dozens of first-hand accounts of just some of the moments which shaped our nation's recent musical history. From dreams to disasters it's a quick-start guide to who did what and when.

Martin Kielty is a Glasgow-based writer, journalist, musician and manager. This is his eighth book.