Stone Voices: The Search for Scotland - Hardcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Aus dem Klappentext

"[Ascherson] writes with a wonderful sinewy expressiveness, always colloquial but always elegant . . . His idiosyncratic intelligence and shameless erudition give me hope."
Michael Frayn

Rezensionen

How does one define a country? What is nationalism? These are some of the questions journalist Ascherson attempts to answer in a book that is part history lesson, part travelogue, and more: one man's search for a nation. A small country on Europe's edge, Scotland is complex, and its changing identity can confuse. It now has its own parliament, yet it remains part of the U.K. Is it, then, a true nation? Ascherson explores aspects of Scotland's past, present, and future that include immense social change during the Industrial Revolution, the demise of clan society, the devastating effects of the Highland Clearances, and the search for an authentic Scotland far removed from the myths and half-truths still enveloping it. A highlight of the book is the sometimes amusing, often illuminating, back-country bus expedition that Ascherson and other Scots took during the 1997 referendum campaign that eventuated in the new parliament. In Scotland, Ascherson points out, love of country is, more often than not, a private affair. Scotland will continue to find its own way. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Journalist and historian Ascherson (Black Sea, The King Incorporated) takes a close look at his native country-its history, its landscape, its populace, its aspirations for independence-in this richly textured portrait of a nation "at home in hard, stony times." For many, thanks to Braveheart, Scotland may conjure images of William Wallace crying freedom. But Hollywood drama aside, Ascherson's examination of Scottish movements for sovereignty, both political and cultural, and Scots' concerns for equality and popular rights during their turbulent history show how such a spirit rings true today. Culminating with the passage of the referendum establishing Scotland's first modern Parliament, Ascherson's account offers vivid scenes from the author's cross-country promotional campaign and intimate details of a nation's doubts and faith in the face of great political change. Ascherson investigates the elements that have shaped Scotland's oft-debated history as he meets them face to face, including emigration, religious and racial intolerance, regionalist feuds and influences, bilingualism and the abundant interpretations and reinterpretations of what is considered "authentic" history. Ascherson also pays close attention to the Scottish geology-with its shallow, wind-thrashed soil and barren, boulder-filled valleys-that makes it a beautiful but difficult land for its people to inhabit. An enlightening read, Ascherson's volume will encourage readers to attend to Scotland's future, as well as to the forces that affect their own freedoms.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.