In the early years of the 18th century, Scotland is torn by religious and political strife. Hogg's sinner, justified by his Calvinist conviction that his own salvation is pre-ordained, is suspected of involvement in a series of bizarre and hideous crimes. A century later his memoirs reveal the extraordinary, macabre truth. The tale is chilling for its astute psychological accuracy as it illustrates, with power and economy, the dire effect of self-righteous bigotry on a fanatical character. In the first half of his new introduction David Blair provides a detailed explanation of the historical and religious contexts of Hogg's novel. In the second half he probes the book's brilliant, complex engagement with issues of identity, history and narrative itself. AUTHOR: James Hogg (1770-1835) was a writer and poet whose fame, during the later stages of his life, was second only to Sir Walter Scott in his native Scotland. Known as 'The Ettrick Shepherd', his works faded into obscurity until his innovative novel 'The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner' had a significant revival of interest in the latter part of the twentieth century