The Friday Digest 27/06/14

*  Events were held this week to mark the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn. The 1314 battle, fought on 23 and 24 June, saw Robert the Bruce defeat the forces of Edward II.

* Why is Stirling Castle the bloody heart of Scotland?

* Arnold Bennett was a national treasure and the J.K. Rowling of his day, but today he is probably the most successful and famous British celebrity you've never heard of.

* Pioneering scientist and Kevlar inventor Stephanie Kwolek has died at the age of 90. Kevlar was initially intended to be used in car tyres but it is now used in millions of products by people around the world

* The macabre world of books bound in human skin.

* Alassio: the Italian town with an English secret. 

 * A sunken kingdom has re-emerged from the waves at Borth in Wales after the floods which battered Britain’s western coastline earlier this year. 

*  On 10 June 1942, the Czech town of Lidice was 'liquidated' after the assassination of the Nazi chief Reinhard Heydrich. Jaroslava Sklenickova lived in Lidice at the time and survived and here she speaks about her experience.

* The extraordinary story of Herman Rothman and Hitler's will.

* Linda Stratmann shares her experience of filming with Dr Pamela Cox for Shopgirls and returning to Whiteleys. You can see the first episode here on iPlayer. 

 * If Scotland votes for independence in September, could the Duchess of Alba be the next Queen of Scotland?

* The life of Laurie Lee: the author of Cider with Rosie has been remembered in his native Gloucestershire.

* Police forces are embracing the latest 3D-scanning technology to record crime scenes as virtual reality models. This helps them find clues, but also to immerse juries in the scene of the crime. 

 

* The twenty-six greatest book dedications you will ever read. 

 

* The 'wheel of books' at the British Museum's bookshop is making us want to go and visit again ...

* The Londonist shares twelve independent publishers every Londoner should know. 

 

* According to a new study by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American reads for only nineteen minutes a day, with young people reading even less at a paltry eight minutes per day. How much do you read?

 

 

* Booktrust has given away 2,500 children’s books to foodbanks as part of this month’s National Book Start Week.

* How technology rewrites literature.

* Hachette Book Group has purchased the publishing division of the Perseus Book Group, but here's the part of the Hachette-Perseus deal you didn't hear about: It involves 400 leading indie publishers.  

* Amazon had been accused of 'bullying' smaller UK publishers with experts claiming that the new Amazon terms amount to 'assisted suicide' for book industry. But is there a way out for publishers?

* Emma Chapman asks: do we really care if indie bookshops cease to exist?