While the Rebus novels are focused on fictional mysteries, this book is more of a guided tour around Scotland. Specifically, you’ll notice how much Rebus’s character connects to Rankin and his experiences. Plus, the author describes Edinburgh and Fife in a way that will convince you to plan a vacation to Scotland. The Hidden Ways: Scotland’s Forgotten Roads by Alistair Moffat Scottish politics in the late 18th century was dominated by the Whigs, with the benign management of Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll (1682–1761), who was in effect the "viceroy of Scotland" from the 1720s until his death in 1761. Scotland generally supported the king with enthusiasm during the American Revolution. Henry Dundas (1742–1811) dominated political affairs in the latter part of the century. Dundas defeated advocates of intellectual and social change through his ruthless manipulation of patronage in alliance with Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, until he lost power in 1806. [160] From 1554 on, Marie de Guise took over the regency and continued to advance French interests in Scotland. French cultural influence resulted in a large influx of French vocabulary into Scots. But anti-French sentiment also grew, particularly among Protestants, who saw the English as their natural allies. This led to armed conflict at the siege of Leith. Marie de Guise died in June 1560, and soon after the Auld Alliance also ended, with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh, which provided for the removal of French and English troops from Scotland. The Scottish Reformation took place only days later when the Scottish Parliament abolished the Roman Catholic religion and outlawed the Mass. [97] Depiction of David Rizzio's murder in 1566 Scotland was a poor rural, agricultural society with a population of 1.3million in 1755. Although Scotland lost home rule, the Union allowed it to break free of a stultifying system and opened the way for the Scottish enlightenment as well as a great expansion of trade and increase in opportunity and wealth. Edinburgh economist Adam Smith concluded in 1776 that "By the union with England, the middling and inferior ranks of people in Scotland gained a complete deliverance from the power of an aristocracy which had always before oppressed them." [138] Historian Jonathan Israel holds that the Union "proved a decisive catalyst politically and economically," by allowing ambitious Scots entry on an equal basis to a rich expanding empire and its increasing trade. [139] Fans of Outlander, Camelot, andthe Game of Thronesseries will love The Lost Queen. Our heroine in this novel, Languoreth, is the twin sister of Lailoken, the man who inspired the legend of Merlin. Although she falls in love with a warrior, Languoreth is already promised to wed Rhydderch, the son of a Christian king.

Industrialisation, urbanisation and the Disruption of 1843 all undermined the tradition of parish schools. From 1830 the state began to fund buildings with grants, then from 1846 it was funding schools by direct sponsorship, and in 1872 Scotland moved to a system like that in England of state-sponsored largely free schools, run by local school boards. [265] Overall administration was in the hands of the Scotch (later Scottish) Education Department in London. [266] Education was now compulsory from five to thirteen and many new board schools were built. Larger urban school boards established "higher grade" (secondary) schools as a cheaper alternative to the burgh schools. The Scottish Education Department introduced a Leaving Certificate Examination in 1888 to set national standards for secondary education and in 1890 school fees were abolished, creating a state-funded national system of free basic education and common examinations. [208] Main article: Bishops' Wars The St. Giles riot initiated by Jenny Geddes sparked off the Bishops' Wars. Alasdair Gray is one of the most famous names in Scottish fiction. In particular, he’s known for multiple award-winning novels and collections of short stories and poetry.See also: Scottish clan The remains of old run rig strips beside Loch Eynort, Isle of Skye. Run rig was the pre-clearance method of arable farming before agricultural improvements were introduced. Impressive. . . . The strength of this book lies in the way events such as the Act of Union and the Clearances are revealed to have had global consequences.”—Gerard DeGroot, Times (UK) Based upon writings from around the 4th century BCE, it appears the Celts called themselves "Cruithne" (the painted ones), as they regularly dyed their faces and bodies. In the Brythonic dialect of Celtic, they called themselves "Pruithne" which, in time, became "Breatan" and then " Briton". The Romans, when they invaded the north of Britain many years later, called the natives they encountered there "Picti" (painted), and so differentiated the people who would become known as Picts from the Britons. The Celts established their own customs and culture throughout Scotland instituting the clan headed by a single chieftain as the family unit and a class structure which placed warriors at the top, priests, bards and merchants in the middle, and artisans, farmers, and slaves at the bottom. Class Structure and Settlements Based on an actual event–the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692–this novel follows Corrag, a woman condemned for her involvement in the slaughter and accused of being a witch. While awaiting her death, she agrees to share her version of events with Charles Leslie, an Irish Jacobite. The vivid descriptions and beautiful writing make Corrag a heroine that readers won’t soon forget.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Scotland’s economy changed drastically. The arrival of industrial technology created a shift in wealth, also caused by the boom in the tobacco, sugar and cotton trades, based largely on the exploitation of enslaved people. Houses like Greenbank House and Harmony were owned by these newly rich businessmen. In this historical novel, readers follow the story of Edward Waverley, an English soldier during the Jacobite rising of 1745. Although he’s an army officer, certain events test his loyalty to the crown, ultimately leading to his involvement with the Scottish cause. A much needed overview of a fascinating and underwritten subject. Spectacularly panoramic and sweeping while always remaining rigorously scholarly, it ranges effortlessly and with confident authority over 400 years of history, from Quebec to Calcutta, from Ossian to Trainspotting.”—William Dalrymple, Spectator, “Books of the Year”

Around this time the Vikings arrived to trade and settle around Scotland, both on the west coast and in the north at places like Fair Isle. Where did Scottish people come from? A major study of the global impact of Scots upon the wider world, with stories of those who left their homeland to begin a new life in places such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US. Kate Williams explains the basis of the rivalry between Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I of England and discovers why they embarked upon a collision course that would end with Mary’s execution at the hands of the English queen.

Scotland is one of the oldest nations in the world, yet by some it is hardly counted as a nation at all. Neither a colony of England nor a fully equal partner in the British union, Scotland has often been seen as simply a component part of British history. But the story of Scotland is one of innovation, exploration, resistance—and global consequence. Around the year 2500 BCE immigrants known as the Beaker People began to arrive on the east coast of Scotland. "Beaker People" is a modern label given to those who developed the production of earthenware pottery, most notably beakers for drinking mead. Prior to 2500 BCE there is no evidence of earthenware pottery in use in this particular way. Further, the Beaker People widely practised the custom of burying their dead with food, drink, and other items which would be necessary in the afterlife – a custom which the Neolithic people did not observe – further substantiating the theory of a mass migration from Europe rather than an indigenous development in ceramic arts. James VI succeeded the throne at just 13 months old after Mary was forced to abdicate. When Elizabeth I died with no children, James VI succeeded to the English throne and became James VI & I – a historic move that’s now known as the Union of the Crowns. Conversion to Christianity may have sped a long-term process of gaelicisation of the Pictish kingdoms, which adopted Gaelic language and customs. There was also a merger of the Gaelic and Pictish crowns, although historians debate whether it was a Pictish takeover of Dál Riata, or the other way around. This culminated in the rise of Cínaed mac Ailpín (Kenneth MacAlpin) in the 840s, which brought to power the House of Alpin. [54] In 867 AD the Vikings seized the southern half of Northumbria, forming the Kingdom of York; [55] three years later they stormed the Britons' fortress of Dumbarton [56] and subsequently conquered much of England except for a reduced Kingdom of Wessex, [55] leaving the new combined Pictish and Gaelic kingdom almost encircled. [57] When he died as king of the combined kingdom in 900, Domnall II (Donald II) was the first man to be called rí Alban (i.e. King of Alba). [58] The term Scotia was increasingly used to describe the kingdom between North of the Forth and Clyde and eventually the entire area controlled by its kings was referred to as Scotland. [59] Scotland from the Matthew Paris map, c. 1250, showing Hadrian's Wall and above it the Antonine Wall, both depicted battlemented

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In this revised edition of a classic work, Scotland’s story is brought right up to date, examining how the Scots identity is faring since the momentous Scottish referendum of 2014, and discussing the fate of the United Kingdom.