New Book on Scotland from Library

[Bugbear]

My library got in a new book on Scotland, To the Ends of the Earth: Scotland's Global Diaspora, 1750-2010, by T. M. Devine (Smithsonian/Penguin, 2011).

I was going to check out a book on grouse, but... This book seemed much more interesting because the book is supposed to provide a balance discussion of the effect the settlements abroad had on Scotland, as well as, the effect Scots had on the new settlements all in a "dynamic" way. Devine does say this is his approach in the preface.

I have put aside all other reading for now, so we'll see how it goes; looks good so far.

[piperdbh]

I'd like to check that book out after you're done with it. Will your library send books 2,500 miles?

[Bugbear]

I'd like to check that book out after you're done with it. Will your library send books 2,500 miles?

Yes, but there's a huge price...

[Jimmy]

My library got in a new book on Scotland, To the Ends of the Earth: Scotland's Global Diaspora, 1750-2010, by T. M. Devine (Smithsonian/Penguin, 2011).

I was going to check out a book on grouse, but... This book seemed much more interesting because the book is supposed to provide a balance discussion of the effect the settlements abroad had on Scotland, as well as, the effect Scots had on the new settlements all in a "dynamic" way. Devine does say this is his approach in the preface.

I have put aside all other reading for now, so we'll see how it goes; looks good so far.

Professsor Tom Devine is always worth a read and is an authority on both the Irish and Scottish Diaspora, He talks on a regular basis in Glasgow and is often on TV giving his expert opinions on these matters. He recently took part in a television debate into sectaranism in Scotland which recently came to the fore with the death threats on Glasgow Celtic's Northern Irish manager, Neil Lennon

[Bugbear]

Professsor Tom Devine is always worth a read and is an authority on both the Irish and Scottish Diaspora, He talks on a regular basis in Glasgow and is often on TV giving his expert opinions on these matters. He recently took part in a television debate into sectaranism in Scotland which recently came to the fore with the death threats on Glasgow Celtic's Northern Irish manager, Neil Lennon

Thanks, that's good to know, Jimmy.

For a while now, I have been wondering about the subject of influence that the diaspora have had back on Scotland. Although, he gives a little bit of a qualifier about using the word "diaspora" in his preface; some historians and pureists might object... But I think it's ok.

[Peter Crowe]

Professsor Tom Devine is always worth a read and is an authority on both the Irish and Scottish Diaspora, He talks on a regular basis in Glasgow and is often on TV giving his expert opinions on these matters. He recently took part in a television debate into sectaranism in Scotland which recently came to the fore with the death threats on Glasgow Celtic's Northern Irish manager, Neil Lennon

You are right Jimmy, I once attended a seminar on what James MacMillan had labelled Scotland's Shame, at which T.M. Devine was one of the guest speakers. His contribution to the discussion was very fair and balanced (IMHO), and for want of a better phrase I 'tap with the other foot' from him.

[Peter Crowe]

I should also add that T.M. Devine's scholarship in Scotland's Empire is a much better than Arthur Herman's How The Scots Invented The Modern World on Scotland and its influence during the Enlightenment.

[chrisupyonder]

Found it on Amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...eeconomists-20

Chris.

[Bugbear]

I should also add that T.M. Devine's scholarship in Scotland's Empire is a much better than Arthur Herman's How The Scots Invented The Modern World on Scotland and its influence during the Enlightenment.

Well... Devine does bring up Arthur Herman's book in the first chapter... I'm not in a position to criticize the book, but I read it a while back.

Anyway, my impression so far is that it is very authoritatively written. Devine is using lots of in-line statistics and figures to back up what he is explaining as he goes. For example, child survival percentages or rates in different time spans as he explains there was a bit of a population boom at one point, rather than just saying there was a population boom; economic figures, stuff like that too. It doesn't come across as boring though.

chrisupyonder, yes, that is the book. Thanks for posting a link.

[Bugbear]

The second chapter deals with the involvement of Scots with the slave trade, on the business rather than transport end, and with Scottish plantation managers in the Caribbean, and how this contributed to the build up of the Scottish economy and Scottish global trade in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds.

I am reminded of another book, A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World, by William J. Bernstein that argues large scale, globalized trade has been going on for a few hundred years now.