Scan barcode
statman's review against another edition
4.0
I really like this book about Scottish History. Even though Scotland is a small country, Herman in this book explains the large impact that they've had on the United States and Western thought. Not a detailed history of Scotland but it covers well the major figures from Scottish history and its major events.
mcmurdoc97's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.75
A very thorough look into the progress that stemmed from Scotland. More involved than I originally anticipated. The author not only tells of the Scottish visionaries in a myriad of fields, but details their theories in depth. I appreciated the stories that the author kept alluding back to in each chapter as it gave a grounding point for me.
Love all the fun tidbits I now have to pull out at a random party if the conversation ever steers towards the Scottish Enlightenment, the Highland Clearances, the Scottish Tobacco Lords, or Adam Smith’s many theories.
Love all the fun tidbits I now have to pull out at a random party if the conversation ever steers towards the Scottish Enlightenment, the Highland Clearances, the Scottish Tobacco Lords, or Adam Smith’s many theories.
sshabein's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.5
3 stars would be a bit generous, but I did learn some things. This look at Scotland's history and influence as it relates to the modern world (well, as of 2001, when this was published) is a dry read, and I didn't always agree with Herman's assessments. He takes too light a hand in matters of colonialism and capitalism, and there's barely a woman to be found. However, he does lay out a timeline well, and it's interesting to learn about the ways in which Scotland prioritized education and freedom, and I could see some through-lines when it comes to my own family's ancestry (those ex-Orkney Canadians/New Englanders and Carolina/Tennessee "rednecks" are both in my background). So, for a book I picked up because I happened to notice it at the library, it's not bad, but it definitely wasn't love.
annalieegk's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This book reads as a list of Scottish accomplishments. While interesting, lists are not profound. The book lacks a thesis—the title is as close as it gets to making an argument. Herman also really downplays the violence done to and by Scots which really does everyone a disservice. Herman got close to making a good point when he hinted at America as an experiment in Scottish philosophy and invention but didn’t pursue that thought. I learned a lot and found some of the info useful but without defining HOW Scottish culture was conducive to this innovation, the content does not actually show “How the Scots Invented the Modern World”.
dadia's review against another edition
4.0
This is a troubling book, particularly in the seemingly laudatory gloss over colonialism. For a few chapters, it felt like a celebration of 'The White Man's Burden'. The book is brilliantly written and certainly makes the case for the many and extensive effects the Scottish Enlightenment had around the world and I came away with great interest in many historical figures I will certainly go on to study on their own. However, it feels rushed in its conclusions and rarely takes a look at any negative impacts Scots may have had (most notably the Ku Klux Klan), leading to the book coming off as a bit of a whitewash. A slightly more balanced book would not have diminished one's idea of the overwhelming accomplishments of people of Scottish descent.
aimeewoodworks's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
5.0
This took me four months to read, as it is so dense- but I was absolutely riveted, just fascinated, the entire time.
fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
‘A man’s a man for a’ that’
Although there are a few chapters in this book dedicated to explaining the ideas of the philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment, the bulk of the book is an examination of how those ideas spread and changed not just Scotland or the UK but, in Herman’s view, the Western world. As with Herman’s more recent book, [b:The Cave and the Light|13534181|The Cave and the Light; Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization|Arthur Herman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1362183698s/13534181.jpg|19095871], this is a hugely readable and enjoyable history – Herman writes in a way that makes his books very accessible to non-academic readers.
Starting in the century or so before the Enlightenment period, Herman explains the various factors that led to the Union of 1707. He shows the stranglehold that the Kirk had on Scottish society, but that out of this grew the idea of man as a free individual – that monarchs were not absolute and that tyrannies could and should be challenged. He gives the Kirk the credit for the idea that education should be for all, making Scotland one of the most literate societies in the world, with an appetite for books other than the Bible. And he explains very clearly the impact of the Darien scheme on both the financial state of Scotland and on its self-confidence as a nation. In Herman’s view, the Union was a resoundingly positive development for Scotland, despite its unpopularity amongst ordinary people, since it opened up opportunities and access to the rest of the world via the rapidly developing British Empire, hence revolutionising Scotland both economically and culturally.
In the next couple of chapters, Herman deals in some depth with two of the earliest and most influential figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Hutcheson and Kames, showing how their ideas developed, where they contrasted and overlapped, and the influence that each had on those thinkers who followed them. He highlights Hutcheson as the altruist, the first liberal, who developed the idea of the ‘pursuit of happiness’ with man as a free individual choosing to work together for the common good. Kames is portrayed more as a hard-nosed realist (cynic?) believing that societies come together primarily to provide protection for their property from external threats. In these chapters, Herman also shows the beginnings of what we would now call the ‘social sciences’ – the scientific study of human society and social relationships.
The rest of the first section of the book is taken up with a wide-ranging history of eighteenth century Scotland. Herman discusses the reasons behind the Jacobite rebellions, showing that the divide was much more complex than the simplistic picture of Scotland v England, so beloved of nationalists and film-makers alike. He discusses the clan culture of the Highlands in some depth, stripping away much of the romanticism that has built up over it in the intervening years. He shows how Lowland Scotland, what we would now think of as the Central Belt, was much more in tune with its English partners, particularly as the two main cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh began to reap major economic benefits from access to the Empire. Throughout these chapters, he continues to show how Enlightenment thinking was developing via such huge figures as Hume and Smith, and influencing not just Scottish society, but attracting students from the UK and Europe to study at Scottish universities.
The second half of the book is largely devoted to showing how the Scottish Diaspora, forced and voluntary, meant that Scottish ideas were disseminated throughout the Empire, particularly to the white English-speaking Dominions. From educators to scientists and engineers, Herman’s position is that Scots were responsible for the birth of what we would now think of as ‘modernity’. Being an American, Herman lays particular emphasis on what he sees as the huge contribution Scots and Scottish ideas made to the founding and Constitution of the US, physically, politically and intellectually. He shows how, in his opinion, the inbuilt ‘gridlock’ of the American political system rose specifically out of Scottish Enlightenment ideas, to provide protection for individuals and communities from the power of an overweening government. He explains the huge influence that Scots had in creating and developing the early American system of education and universities such as Princeton. And, of course, he credits the great Scottish economists with the creation of the capitalist system he so clearly admires.
While I found this a most informative and enjoyable read (who doesn’t enjoy having their national ego stroked?), I did feel that at points, particularly in the latter half of the book, Herman was stretching his argument a bit. I would be the last person to belittle the huge contribution of the Scottish Enlightenment philosophers; or of the Scottish engineers, scientists, writers, religious leaders and statesmen who spread the Enlightenment ideas throughout the colonies and dominions of the Empire. But sometimes Herman gives the distinct impression that the Scots are really the only people who have ever done anything – the rest of the world seems to have rather passively sat back and let the Scots get on with it. (And frankly I’m not sure if I want to be held responsible for America!) If a man of another nationality is credited with something, Herman trawls his background to give him a Scottish connection – he studied at a Scottish University or his grandfather came from just over the English border so was nearly Scottish…or his grandmother once ate haggis. (OK, I might have exaggerated that last one a little.)
But with that small reservation aside, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants a clearer understanding of the history of this period, both as it affected Scotland and the wider world. And, in this year of the Scottish Independence referendum, a useful reminder of the reasons behind the Union and the early economic benefits of it, providing food for thought for either camp as to whether those reasons and benefits are still relevant today.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Although there are a few chapters in this book dedicated to explaining the ideas of the philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment, the bulk of the book is an examination of how those ideas spread and changed not just Scotland or the UK but, in Herman’s view, the Western world. As with Herman’s more recent book, [b:The Cave and the Light|13534181|The Cave and the Light; Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization|Arthur Herman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1362183698s/13534181.jpg|19095871], this is a hugely readable and enjoyable history – Herman writes in a way that makes his books very accessible to non-academic readers.
Starting in the century or so before the Enlightenment period, Herman explains the various factors that led to the Union of 1707. He shows the stranglehold that the Kirk had on Scottish society, but that out of this grew the idea of man as a free individual – that monarchs were not absolute and that tyrannies could and should be challenged. He gives the Kirk the credit for the idea that education should be for all, making Scotland one of the most literate societies in the world, with an appetite for books other than the Bible. And he explains very clearly the impact of the Darien scheme on both the financial state of Scotland and on its self-confidence as a nation. In Herman’s view, the Union was a resoundingly positive development for Scotland, despite its unpopularity amongst ordinary people, since it opened up opportunities and access to the rest of the world via the rapidly developing British Empire, hence revolutionising Scotland both economically and culturally.
In the next couple of chapters, Herman deals in some depth with two of the earliest and most influential figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Hutcheson and Kames, showing how their ideas developed, where they contrasted and overlapped, and the influence that each had on those thinkers who followed them. He highlights Hutcheson as the altruist, the first liberal, who developed the idea of the ‘pursuit of happiness’ with man as a free individual choosing to work together for the common good. Kames is portrayed more as a hard-nosed realist (cynic?) believing that societies come together primarily to provide protection for their property from external threats. In these chapters, Herman also shows the beginnings of what we would now call the ‘social sciences’ – the scientific study of human society and social relationships.
The rest of the first section of the book is taken up with a wide-ranging history of eighteenth century Scotland. Herman discusses the reasons behind the Jacobite rebellions, showing that the divide was much more complex than the simplistic picture of Scotland v England, so beloved of nationalists and film-makers alike. He discusses the clan culture of the Highlands in some depth, stripping away much of the romanticism that has built up over it in the intervening years. He shows how Lowland Scotland, what we would now think of as the Central Belt, was much more in tune with its English partners, particularly as the two main cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh began to reap major economic benefits from access to the Empire. Throughout these chapters, he continues to show how Enlightenment thinking was developing via such huge figures as Hume and Smith, and influencing not just Scottish society, but attracting students from the UK and Europe to study at Scottish universities.
The second half of the book is largely devoted to showing how the Scottish Diaspora, forced and voluntary, meant that Scottish ideas were disseminated throughout the Empire, particularly to the white English-speaking Dominions. From educators to scientists and engineers, Herman’s position is that Scots were responsible for the birth of what we would now think of as ‘modernity’. Being an American, Herman lays particular emphasis on what he sees as the huge contribution Scots and Scottish ideas made to the founding and Constitution of the US, physically, politically and intellectually. He shows how, in his opinion, the inbuilt ‘gridlock’ of the American political system rose specifically out of Scottish Enlightenment ideas, to provide protection for individuals and communities from the power of an overweening government. He explains the huge influence that Scots had in creating and developing the early American system of education and universities such as Princeton. And, of course, he credits the great Scottish economists with the creation of the capitalist system he so clearly admires.
While I found this a most informative and enjoyable read (who doesn’t enjoy having their national ego stroked?), I did feel that at points, particularly in the latter half of the book, Herman was stretching his argument a bit. I would be the last person to belittle the huge contribution of the Scottish Enlightenment philosophers; or of the Scottish engineers, scientists, writers, religious leaders and statesmen who spread the Enlightenment ideas throughout the colonies and dominions of the Empire. But sometimes Herman gives the distinct impression that the Scots are really the only people who have ever done anything – the rest of the world seems to have rather passively sat back and let the Scots get on with it. (And frankly I’m not sure if I want to be held responsible for America!) If a man of another nationality is credited with something, Herman trawls his background to give him a Scottish connection – he studied at a Scottish University or his grandfather came from just over the English border so was nearly Scottish…or his grandmother once ate haggis. (OK, I might have exaggerated that last one a little.)
But with that small reservation aside, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants a clearer understanding of the history of this period, both as it affected Scotland and the wider world. And, in this year of the Scottish Independence referendum, a useful reminder of the reasons behind the Union and the early economic benefits of it, providing food for thought for either camp as to whether those reasons and benefits are still relevant today.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com