This book, originally published in 1988, examines the Highlands and Islands of Scotland over several centuries and charts their cultural transformation from a separate region into one where the processes of anglicisation have largely succeeded. It analyses the many aspects of change including the policies of successive governments, the decline of the Gaelic language, the depressing of much of the population into peasantry and the clearances.

This is the first comprehensive history of the Scottish economy over the last three centuries to appear in a generation. Written by leading scholars in the field, it presents 'state of the art' research in an accessible style to all those interested in understanding the historical context of modern Scotland. Fresh interpretations are revealed on such key and controversial issues as the impact of the Union of 1707, the Clearances, the rise and fall of Scottish heavy industry and the recent transformation of the modern economy. The distinctive features of the Scottish economic system are stressed but these are also analysed within a British and international context. The focus of the volume is both broad and detailed with full treatment of agriculture, finance, industry and the service sector as well as the impact of momentous economic changes on the lives of the people and the massive new role in the twentieth century of the state in economic affairs. At a time of intense debate on the present and future condition of Scotland under a devolved parliament and executive, this book provides the essential background and the long-run perspectives on the challenges and opportunities facing the nation.

This book charts the environmental transformation of Scotland from the end of the ice age in an empty land 10,000 years ago to the Viking invasions of an established society 9,000 years later. When the icefields and glaciers disappeared forests covered the land and sea level rose to create the Hebridean islands. Elk, aurochs, bear, boar, red deer, beaver and horse crossed the land bridge from Europe to colonise the land, first followed by hunter gatherers and later by waves of Celts, Romans, Scots, and Normans, each marking the landscape in distinctive ways. This book brings together environmental, ecological, historical, geological, and archaeological approaches to show how changing climatic conditions and this sequence of cultural impacts shaped the succession of Scottish landscapes which have led to its present unique, beautiful, fleeting forms and variety.The seventeen authors are scholars from a range of fields, all writing for students and general readers. The first six chapters consider interactions of human ecology, climate, landscape, soils, vegetation and faunal change. The next seven are a chronological narrative history of Scotland's environment over 9,000 years. The final chapter unites these systematic and historical approaches. The book is extensively illustrated with maps and photographs. The paperback edition includes a new and extensive guide to further reading.

In the later decades of the 17th century, Scotland was a relatively poor and undeveloped country. Around 100 years later it was in the throes of an extraordicnary transformation, which laid the basis for the nation's world economic pre-eminence in the Victorian era. Two aspects of this great leap forward, the Industrial Revolution and the Highland Clearances have been much studied. This is a study of a fundamental development, of the transition from peasant to capitalist agriculture. It covers the social change in Scotland through a wide range of issues including agrarian economy, evolution of tenant farming and landlordism.

This is a study of the physical transformation of Edinburgh in the nineteenth century.

Scotland's Populations is a coherent and comprehensive description and analysis of the most recent 170 years of Scottish population history. With its coverage of both national and local themes, set in the context of changes in Scottish economy and society, this study is an essential and definitive source for anyone teaching or writing on modern Scottish history, sociology, or geography. Michael Anderson explores subjects such as population growth and decline, rural settlement and depopulation, and migration and emigration. It sets current and recent population changes in their long-term context, exploring how the legacies of past demographic change have combined with a history of weak industrial investment, employment insecurity, deprivation, and poor living conditions to produce the population profiles and changes of Scotland today. While focussing on Scottish data, Anderson engages in a rigorous treatment of comparisons of Scotland with its neighbours in the British Isles and elsewhere in Europe, which ensures that this is more than a one-country study.

Written by a leading sociologist of Scotland, this ground-breaking new introduction is a comprehensive account of the social, political, economic and cultural processes at work in contemporary Scottish society. At a time of major uncertainty and transformation The New Sociology of Scotland explores every aspect of Scottish life. Placed firmly in the context of globalisation, the text: examines a broad range of topics including race and ethnicity, social inequality, national identity, health, class, education, sport, media and culture, among many others. looks at the ramifications of recent political events such as British General Election of 2015, the Scottish parliament election of May 2016, and the Brexit referendum of June 2016. uses learning features such as further reading and discussion questions to stimulate students to engage critically with issues raised. Written in a lucid and accessible style, The New Sociology of Scotland is an indispensable guide for students of sociology and politics.

What is Scottish independence for? Since the referendum, Scottish independence has been captured by conservative forces. Scotland After Britain argues for fidelity to the true meaning of the word independence. It should mean not only a break from the failing British state, but also from the prison of free trade and militarism that has delivered successive crises. Most of all, independence must honestly address the huge injustices of income, wealth and power that continue to define Scottish society, by restoring agency to working class communities and voters. Scotland After Britain shines a spotlight on pro-independence politics since Brexit and the pandemic. The Scottish national question has emerged as the biggest fracture in the British state after Brexit. The independence movement emerged from mass public disenchantment at the status quo, yet the SNP continues governing as if that disenchantment never happened, and the party leadership appears increasingly ambivalent about the risks of demanding independence. Most of all, the British state remains hostile to allowing a second referendum, while the SNP leadership has been unwilling to sanction protest beyond the ballot box. Where do we go from here? Scotland After Britain argues Brexit could force the movement to engage in a reckoning with the true stakes of independence, a process that will inevitably require a breach with the SNP’s establishment vision.

Shortlisted for the 2009 Saltire Society History Book of the Yea. rFrom Caledonia to Pictland examines the transformation of Iron Age northern Britain into a land of Christian kingdoms, long before 'Scotland' came into existence. Perched at the edge of the western Roman Empire, northern Britain was not unaffected by the experience, and became swept up in the great tide of processes which gave rise to the early medieval West. Like other places, the country experienced social and ethnic metamorphoses, Christianisation, and colonization by dislocated outsiders, but northern Britain also has its own unique story to tell in the first eight centuries AD.This book is the first detailed political history to treat these centuries as a single period, with due regard for Scotland's position in the bigger story of late Antique transition. From Caledonia to Pictland charts the complex and shadowy processes which saw the familiar Picts, Northumbrians, North Britons and Gaels of early Scottish history become established in the country, the achievements of their foremost political figures, and their ongoing links with the world around them. It is a story that has become much revised through changing trends in scholarly approaches to the challenging evidence, and that transformation too is explained for the benefit of students and general readers.

Written by leading scholars in the field, this work provides a comprehensive history of the Scottish economy over the last three centuries.