Product Description

'Every Scot should read it. Scotland now has the lively, provocative and positive history it deserves.' Irvine Welsh, Guardian A dramatic and intriguing history of how Scotland produced the institutions, beliefs and human character that have made the West into the most powerful culture in the world. Arthur Herman argues that Scotland's turbulent history, from William Wallace to the Presbyterian Lords of the Covenant, laid the foundations for 'the Scottish miracle'. Within one hundred years, the nation that began the eighteenth century dominated by the harsh and repressive Scottish Kirk had evolved into Europe's most literate society, producing an idea of modernity that has shaped much of civilisation as we know it. He follows the lives and work of thinkers such as Adam Smith and David Hume, writers such as Burns and Boswell, as well as architects, technicians and inventors, and traces their legacy into the twentieth century. Written with wit, erudition and clarity, The Scottish Enlightenment claims the Scots' rightful place in the history of the western world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54747 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 454 pages

Review
'Herman's book tells an exciting story with gusto ! entertaining and illuminating.' Jenny Uglow, Sunday Times 'Stimulating. A work which deserves to be bought by any interested reader.' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph 'Compulsively readable.' Paul Henderson Scott, Sunday Herald 'Herman carries his thesis off with brio.' Arnold Kemp, Observer 'A sparkling book. Herman argues his case with an impressive accumulation of evidence.' New Statesman

About the Author
Arthur Herman received his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University and has been professor of history at both George Mason and Georgetown Universities. He is now Co-ordinator at the Smithsonian's Western Heritage Programme, and has served as historical consultant to Time-Life Books. He is the author of The Idea of Decline in Western History.

Customer Reviews

The Scottish Enlightenment by Arthur Herman
Like many Scots, I have preconceived ideas about the Jacobite rebellion, religious wars, the Union and our relationship with the rest of Britain. I know when to hiss and when to cheer those heroes and villains of our not so distant past.
Reading this book has allowed me to throw away my prejudices and look at all of these issues with a new unblinkered vision. This is one of the best books I have read on Scottish history and what I particularly like is how it doesn't concentrate on battles and events, but people and ideas. I just want to run out and buy a copy of Wealth of Nations or the writings of Hutcheson, Hume and others. I particularly like the way Herman leads you through the practical consequences of what people were thinking and writing. Their effect on commerce, science, politics and ideas about liberty have relevance today.
I truly feel enlightened and I recommend this book very highly.

Not just for Scots
Being a Scot with a woefully poor grasp of my countries own history I picked this book up with a view to educating myself. It proved to be a real eye opener and explains the Scots contribution to the modern world in an entertaining and accesible manner. I agree with one of the other reviewers in that it should be a set text for all Scottish schoolchildren. Herman achieves credibility from non-Scots by default through his American nationality. If anything it will arm Scots with a better understanding and some concrete facts during their pub arguments with their English friends in the obligatory Scots vs. English debate!

The Scottish Enlightenment
This is an interesting book. It's extremely well written and it serves as very useful summary of the contribution made by Scots Philosophers, Educators, Architects and Missionaries in the post Union period. Mr Herman certainly argues a very engaging theory, but one can't help feeling that he gets a little bit carried away with his argument that the Scots invented the modern world. One wonders where we would be had it not been for the leading lights of the Scottish Enlightenment as detailed by this book. Nevertheless, he does do well to avoid any historical mawkish sentimentality and the book never becomes the literary equivalent of the "Wha's like us? Damn few and they're a' deid" teatowel! The book is particularly strong on discussing the lifes and works of the philosophers Hutcheson, Hume, Kames and Smith, but the historical narrative perhaps is not quite as strong or vividly presented as it is in Tom Devine's "The Scottish Nation". We can allow ourselves a certain pride and a smirk of satisfaction over the impact our predecessors have had and perhaps wonder if we are still punching above our weight in the modern world? An engaging, enjoyable book for anybody interested in Scottish history or, indeed, European and American history in the Enlightenment period