The Hidden City : The Story of Aberdeen and Its People

This is the story of two Aberdeens -- a modern one and one that no longer exists.

Many years ago, the city was constrained within an area known as the Royalty.

As the town spread out from the old boundaries, it left behind a community "crowded with buildings and abominably filthy", ravaged by disease and poverty, another city hidden by the thoroughfares of a shining new city.

The "hidden" city, with its rabbit warren of courts and closes, is at the heart of this book.

The author examines how this old city gradually receded and the new one developed.

He also takes a look at how the newspaper industry was established in Aberdeen and what role it has played in the history of the two cities.