DUNFERMLINE takes centre stage in a new illustrated book which explores the rich heritage of the famous Carnegie surname.

The works explores the origins of the family but Dunfermline's most famous son Andrew Carnegie, is the chief hero of this book.

'Carnegie Heritage' brings into focus his family background and personal character, exploring his amazing life and his unprecedented legacy of humanitarian foundations and endowments.

It promises to be a coffee-table treasure-chest of facts, statistics and surprises and much of the information has not appeared in print in this form before.

Charles Kinder Bradbury, who is a retired chemist from Cupar, co-authored the book with historian Henry Steuart Fothringham, and it's the fifth volume in a heritage series they've written together.

He told the Press: "When my co-author and I were looking around for another project along the lines of our previous Heritage Series publications, Andrew Carnegie’s name was present in the news.

"It was the centenary of his death and there was much commemoration in Dunfermline.

"The various aspects of his life and legacies seemed to fit very well into the style of book which we have developed.

"No biography of Carnegie consulted appeared to tackle the complex subject matter in an organised and well-illustrated way, and this provided a niche of opportunity."

The pair spent 18 months researching and writing the book at the hight of the pandemic and Henry was delighted to discover that his paternal grandfather was a fourth cousin of Andrew Carnegie!

Speaking about what he found of greatest interest about Carnegie, Charles said: "The obvious answer is the vast number of libraries which he endowed, world-wide. But coming from a scientific background, I have been most impressed by his contribution to many branches of science in the founding of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, now known as the Carnegie Foundation for Science.

"His foresight in allowing his trustees in this and other foundations to support projects of ever-changing nature I find remarkable.

"Andrew Carnegie was, no doubt, a hero. He was a man of his time. Like J D Rockefeller, J P Morgan and others, his actions nowadays may seem to have been selfish and avaricious.

"However, his philanthropic attitudes, instilled by his mother and Uncle Lauder, never left him.

"The musical, 'The Star-spangled Scotchman', addresses this enigma and I was fortunate to see a performance in Dunfermline, with Carnegie’s great-great-great-grandson, Joe Whiteman, taking the lead role.

"It is early days but people who have received advance copies have been most enthusiastic about the work, both in Scotland and America.

"We have been able to establish deals for distribution of the book in both markets."

'Carnegie Heritage', from Braykc Publishing, is available to order now at www.braykcpublishing.com. The book is also on sale at the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum.