Scotland: The Autobiography

Oct 11, 2024 8:32 AM

Author:Rosemary Goring

Now in a revised edition with extra material and a new introduction for 2014.

'In a year which will see the Scots vote on independence, this book is a timely reminder of their country's fascinating past' Independent

'History caught on the hoof and the wing by those who were actually there - a brilliant selection' Andrew Marr

A vivid, wide-ranging and engrossing account of Scotland's history, composed of eye-witness accounts by those who experienced it first-hand. Contributors range from Tacitus, Mary Queen of Scots and Oliver Cromwell to Adam Smith, David Livingstone and Billy Connolly.

These include key historic moments - ranging from Bannockburn and Flodden to the SNP parliamentary victory in 2007 - along with a vast array of wonderfully readable insights into the everyday life of Scotland through the millennia. This is living, accesible history told by crofters, criminals, servants, house-wives, poets, journalists, nurses, politicians, novelists, prisoners, comedians, sportsmen and many more.

'An unqualified triumph, superb, a real page-turner . . . what a stirring, dramatic, poignant story it has been' Alexander McCall Smith, Spectator

'Fascinating and very valuable. Goring gives us vivid snapshots of Scottish life and history from Neolithic times . . . should find a place in every Scottish home' Allan Massie, Scotsman

Rosemary Goring took a degree in Economics and Social History at St Andrews University. She started her career in publishing in the role of in-house editor for Chambers Biographical Dictionary and has since edited and written for many reference books, among them the Larousse Dictionaries of Writers and Literary Characters. She was Literary Editor of Scotland on Sunday for several years before becoming Literary Editor of the Herald.

Reviews

History caught on the hoof and the wing by those who were actually there - a brilliant selection and guide

—— Andrew Marr

A bravura feat in browsability, this captivating, timely and useful book will reward any amount of flipping and dipping ... full of moving, amusing and revealing detail ... What an exemplary reclaiming of Scotland's past, what a necessary and notable contribution to its future

—— Scotland on Sunday

Fascinating and very valuable . . . This book should find a place in every Scottish home

—— Scotsman

The pace rarely slackens and every page sparkles with insight

—— Herald

In Europe is not so much a work of history, nor is it strictly a travelogue of the present; it is part of a growing genre that is sometimes referred to as the 'history of the present', but might just as well be the 'presence of the past'. It is undoubtedly a spectacular and beautifully crafted piece of such writing

—— Isabella Thomas , Sunday Times

Moving across a vivid historical landscape, his portrait of Europe, in all her bloody barbarism and civilised glory, helps us confront exactly what we need to know....a timely book, and one we can't afford to ignore

—— Michael Moorcock , Daily Telegraph

This immense book is part masterpiece, part sheer exhaustion. The masterpiece part lies chiefly in its breathtaking invention

—— Jan Morris , The Times

Everywhere he goes, Mak is quietly ruthless in unmasking the acts of forgetting, selective amnesia, myth-making and historical obfuscation that persist...Mak is a truly cosmopolitan chronicler of shame and self-deceptions

—— David Goldblatt , Independent

His genius as a historian is his instinct for human stories... At moments in this monumental work... Mak is the history teacher everyone should have had

—— Simon Kuper , Financial Times

How eloquently Mak rails against the alliance of consumerism and bureaucracy! ... He has a great eye for telling detail... Only a powerful, humane and serious mind could give coherence to mass detail which, however arresting piece by piece, would otherwise soon become wearying... as much a journey around Geert Mak's head as it is a journey around Europe

—— Guardian

Fascinating

—— David V Barrett , Independent

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