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Writer's pictureIan Campbell

The Crescent - Life in Old Dundee now available on Amazon

Updated: May 4, 2022

From 21. April 2021 the new book written by Ian Campbell is available on Amazon.


Get a piece of Dundonian, Scottish history for £9.90.


Cover of The Crescent Live in Old Dundee
Cover The Crescent

The Crescent is based on the true story of real Dundonians who lived at the turn of the 20th Century. With the impending war in South Africa and rife unemployment, the men, also known as 'Kettle Bilers', had nowhere else to turn but to enlist in the Black Watch or face a life of poverty.

Meanwhile, for the women of Dundee, they faced challenging working conditions in the Jute Mills. While at home, they carried the burden of providing for their large families; struggling with ill health, violence and alcoholism at home.


“The women of Dundee, fueled by sheer strength and determination powered through these hard times against all odds to survive ”

What is the story about?


When John Murphy is sentenced to six months hard labour in Perth Prison for fighting, his wife Annie is left to raise his children in poverty in the tenements of the crescent. She relies on a pittance from her jute mill wages and handouts from the Parish until her husband is released and tries to break the poverty trap by bare-knuckle fighting in the boxing booths and beer tents.

His hard drinking, hard-man, bare knuckle fighting style is reduced to that of ‘kettle-biler’ at home, like thousands of other men in Dundee who are out of work. Meanwhile, Westminster and the Whitehall war-rooms are booming, thanks to the growth of the British Empire and the realisation that gold and diamonds in South Africa are ready for the taking.

How does the story go on?


Find out more:







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