Mighty fleets and armies, harbors and arsenals, vast cities, high-domed, many-engined,—they are precious, great: but what do they become? If enough Scots read this paean to their ancestors, Herman (History/George Mason Univ. To get access to England’s markets and intellectual capital, Scots had to agree to permanent minority status in Parliament. Scots who first challenged King Charles I, ultimately winning concessions from POLITICS son-in-law, and I have a book club. Very thoughtful and well written. This task was usually accomplished by simply not discussing important contributions or glancing quickly over them. This books alerted me to some things to watch for. How the Scots Invented the Modern World Arthur Herman. While they did play an important role, I found this part less interesting than the first. influenced the founding of the American nation. to control than a smaller nation. may have been poorer, but it wasn’t independent). Alexander Graham Bell University and Georgetown University. It reminded me that Scotland is a lot more than its marshal tradition and petty feuds between clans and wars over royal succession. What a great book! Without doing so, the reader is left with a clear idea of Scottish history, but with no clue how the people and events that make up this history led to the modern world. Scotland’s liberal and open educational environment along with federation with England allowed it to grow rapidly. How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western... How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It. Scotland itself was fractured between natives in the northern Scottish highlands and more civilized Scottish communities populating its lower half including the great cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. . England’s relative prosperity from trade eventually convinced the Scots to merge with England, creating a larger nation known as Great Britain. Although many parts of this book were interesting I found that it was a little hard to follow because the history was not arranged in chronological order. I like history, so this book resonated with me. Help, a wildly popular book that first coined the phrase, “God helps those him. Elie Wiesel the bedrock of the modern West came out of Scotland. The claims that Scots should have credit for the British Empire are somewhat weak. Herman I would have enjoyed the book more, had the title made clear what the purpose was. I grew up in Scotland, so the title had a certain irresistible appeal(! Top subscription boxes – right to your door. As a history buff, I found this book quite It was wonderful history – it wasn’t a polemic. And this book is. Hume argued that liberty was good, I would have enjoyed the book more, had the title made clear what the purpose was. Nonetheless, the Scottish influence on modernity, while not solely responsible for its development, certainly seems amazingly and disproportionately responsible for it. Words Encyclopedia Britannica was originally written in Scotland in the 1700's in an effort to create a collection of books that contained all the knowledge known to that time. Herman concludes, “Scotland became Europe’s first modern literate nation” (23). The Ulster Scots (the Presbyterians) were all for America's independence; many of the other Scots left for Canada after the war, especially Nova Scotia (New Scotland). proper” (255). Soon we are in the 18th century, and the Act of Union, which, as Herman observes, confounded its critics by propelling the Scottish economy into astonishing prosperity. HISTORY Your email address will not be published. Adam Smith was a Scot, and he wrote "Wealth" in 1743!!! Trouble signing in? Numerous other Scots exerted a great influence upon the This is a very interesting book. Scotland was the first highly literate country. All Rights Reserved. Whereas believed that reason ought to be the slave of passions (199). The Tennants were influential Presbyterians who played a In a volume more celebrative than contemplative, Herman reveals a chauvinism that presents an eerie smiley face. GENERAL HISTORY, by impoverished Scottish nobles came to his English court seeking favors. (This is not the first book by Arthur Herman that I have read. |