The volume covers many of the most significant themes in pre-industrial Scottish society.

A landmark study which reconsiders in fresh and illuminating ways the classic themes of the nation's history since the sixteenth century, as well as a number of new topics which are only now receiving detailed attention. Places the Scottish experience firmly in an international historical experience.

Originally published in 1991 and focussing on the countryside, this book examines patterns of settlement and agriculture in Scotland and considers how these were increasingly altered during the 17th and 18th Centuries by the first Improvers and then by the more widespread impact of the Agricultural Revolution. It considers the effect on the landscape of the changing role of the church, the development of improved communications and the rise of new industries. The book analyses in detail the ways in which the landscape changed in Scotland’s transition from a medieval, impoverished country and an undeveloped economy to a modern society and one of the most highly urbanised countries in Europe.

This book tests the belief that Scotland had the most literate population in the early modern world.

A major reconsideration of our understanding of the development of Scottish culture from the Enlightenment to the present day.

This book challenges conventional wisdom and provides new insights into Scottish social and economic history. Christopher A. Whatley argues that the Union of 1707 was vital for Scottish success, but in ways which have hitherto been overlooked. He proposes that the central place of Jacobitism in the historiography of the period should be revised. Comprehensive in its coverage, the book is based not only on an exhaustive reading of secondary material but also incorporates a wealth of new evidence from previously little-used or unused primary sources.