The book, The Scottish Secretaries, contains biographies of the 39 men and one woman who have served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1885 until present. The author David Torrance believes that, given the level of interest in the way Scotland is financed and represented at Westminster, a look at the history of Scottish administration within the UK is long overdue.

Sir Archibald was one of Winston Churchill's most trusted colleagues. Torrance points out that the two men were "extremely close", having served together on the Western Front during the First World War when Sinclair was Churchill's second-in-command. Subsequently he served as the future PM's personal military secretary at the War Office.

Sir Archibald was elected as MP for Caithness and Sutherland in 1922 and became Scottish Secretary at the height of the Depression in 1931. He resigned the following year over free trade but later became leader of the Liberal Party as well as being Secretary of State for Air.

In the chapter on Sir Archibald, Torrance writes that "he certainly cut a dashing figure. Endowed with striking good looks (not unlike a young Marlon Brando) and much charm of manner, he had long settled upon the standard City attire of striped trousers, winged-collar shirt and black bow tie. His eleven months at Dover House [London HQ of the Scottish Office] were dominated by events outside his department, so Sir Archibald emerged as a distinctly national – and not a Scottish – politician."

Churchill's wartime secretary, John Colville, wrote that Sir Archibald had "an air of distinction. With his fine features, black hair and swarthy complexion he resembled a Spanish grandee rather than the Highland chieftain that he was."

Sir Archibald accepted a peerage in 1952, becoming the first Viscount Thurso. He died in 1970, aged 79. His grandson, John Thurso, is the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.

* Edinburgh-born David Torrance was educated at Leith Academy, Aberdeen University and Cardiff University's School of Journalism. He worked as a reporter on the Evening News in Edinburgh and as a political reporter at Scottish and Grampian TV. He is currently a parliamentary aide to the shadow Scottish Secretary at Westminster. The Scottish Secretaries is published by Birlinn and should be available through retailers from this week, priced £30.

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