Scottish History: The Power of the Past - Softcover

Engaging, cogently argued, and challenging. [The editors] must be congratulated on assembling an impressive range of contributors ! shrewd and original ! compelling ! Collectively the volume constitutes a generally interesting and frequently stimulating and authoritative contribution to the analysis of Scottish history. The chapters are consistently engaging, adding up to an unusually coherent edited volume. It is a valuable addition to the literature. These essays are of a uniformly high standard! Scottish History, the Power of the Past is a fine achievement! it demonstrates the high quality of historical thought and writing in Scotland at the beginning of the twenty-first century! anyone with more than a passing interest in our history should make a point of reading it. Engaging, cogently argued, and challenging. [The editors] must be congratulated on assembling an impressive range of contributors ! shrewd and original ! compelling ! Collectively the volume constitutes a generally interesting and frequently stimulating and authoritative contribution to the analysis of Scottish history. The chapters are consistently engaging, adding up to an unusually coherent edited volume. It is a valuable addition to the literature. These essays are of a uniformly high standard! Scottish History, the Power of the Past is a fine achievement! it demonstrates the high quality of historical thought and writing in Scotland at the beginning of the twenty-first century! anyone with more than a passing interest in our history should make a point of reading it.

This book examines the power of the past upon the present. It shows how generations of Scots have exploited and reshaped history to meet the needs of a series of presents, from the conquest of the Picts to the refounding of Parliament. Dauvit Broun, Fiona Watson, and Steve Boardman explore the violent manipulations of the past in medieval Scotland. Michael Lynch questions well-entrenched assumptions about the Scottish Reformation. Roger Mason looks at the transformation of 'Highland barbarism' into 'Gaelicism'. Ted Cowan examines the 'Killing Times' of the covenanters, and David Allan the seventeenth century fashion for creative family history. Colin Kidd discovers the victims of Pictomania in Scotland and modern Ulster, and Murray Pittock uncovers the comparable mania driving Jacobitism. Richard Finlay links the cult of Victoria with the queen's idea of herself as the heiress of the Scottish monarchy. Catriona MacDonald considers the neglect of women and the dangers of reconstructing history to suit modern sensitivities. Finally David McCrone provides a sociologist's perspective on the continuing dialogue between the past and the present. By exploring how the people of Scotland have variously understood, used and been inspired by the past this book offers a series of insights into the concerns of previous generations and their understanding of themselves and their times. It throws fresh light on the evolution of history in Scotland and on the actions and ambitions of the Scots who have formed and reformed the nation.