Review of: Trevor Royle, Facing the Bear: Scotland and the Cold War

Abstract

• In 1964 Alexander MacIntyre of Strone designed a tartan for the personnel of the American Submarine base at the Holy Loch. The tartan is registered as ‘Polaris Military’ after the infamous nuclear missile carried by the US Navy's ballistic missile submarines, and includes navy blue to represent the naval uniform, dark green for the depths of the oceans and the royal blue and gold over-checks represent the ‘Blue’ and ‘Gold’ crews who alternate. Polaris Military is evocative of the cultural and physical impact of the Cold War in Scotland, and is one of many details of the military-civilian encounter in Trevor Royle's well-researched and important book.