A 2,500 year old guide to warfare is one of the most popular books among inmates at Castle Huntly prison near Dundee.
A freedom of information request submitted to the Scottish Prison Service has revealed the 10 most requested titles in the open prison’s library.
Perhaps surprisingly, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is the second most popular title borrowed by inmates, after former SAS man Andy McNab’s thriller Silencer.
The Art of War, written around 5BC, is one of the most famous military treatises in the world.
The book, which explains how to win wars without fighting battles, has also had a major influence on business, while its high profile followers range from TV mobster Tony Soprano to Brazil’s 2002 World Cup winning football squad.
Other titles on the top 10 list show a clear trend for darker themes.
Crime and thriller novels dominate the rankings, with scenes of murder, robbery, drug use and gang violence common in many of the most popular books.
As well as Andy McNab, authors on the list include James Patterson, best-known for his series of Women’s Murder Club novels, and Dennis Lehane, who wrote for groundbreaking TV series The Wire as well as the novels Shutter Island, Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River.
Alongside the thrillers, a couple of reference books also make the list.
These include the “lavishly illustrated” Vampires – from Dracula to Twilight by Charlotte Montague and Science But Not As We Know it by Ben Gilliland.
The latter promises to explain concepts such as black holes, Schrodinger’s cat and the Higgs boson in layman’s terms.
Castle Huntly near Longforgan is categorised as a low-supervision prison for adult male offenders.
Inmates are transferred there from closed prisons in preparation for their release.
The Top 10:
Silencer by Andy McNab
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
10th Anniversary by James Patterson
9th Judgment by James Patterson
Gangland by Tony Thompson
Vampires – from Dracula to Twilight by Charlotte Montague
False Friends by Stephen Leather
True Colours by Dennis Lehane
Science But Not As We Know It by Ben Gilliland
Six Years by Harlen Coben
