How the Scots Invented the Modern World

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Since the Enlightenment, which took a distinctive flavor in Scotland as opposed to the continental version, Scots have led or participated in much of the good and evil perpetuated by English-speaking peoples on the rest of the world, even when the language they spoke was hardly recognizable as English. The Constitution, structure of the federal government, and more, he seems to claim, were primarily the creations of either Scottish immigrants or descendants. If the book's title were "How some Scots did some things that influenced how we live today along with some interesting facts about Scottish history," it would be much more accurate.

How the Scots Invented the Modern World - Apple Books

S. This is a worthwhile book for the general reader, although much of the material has been covered better elsewhere, most recently in T. Herman had only once been to Scotland as a teenager when his father, a professor, spent a semester at Edinburgh University. Gandhi and Churchill:The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age, Bantam, 2008 ISBN 978-0553804638. Today we measure power in terms of “watts”, a tribute to James Watt, whose improvements to steam engines made them finally practical for widespread use. In 19th-century Britain, the Scottish Enlightenment, as popularized by Dugald Stewart, became the basis of classical liberalism.When we gaze out on a contemporary world shaped by technology, capitalism, and modern democracy, and struggle to find our place as individuals in it, we are in effect viewing the world as the Scots did. This book also tells the negative parts of Scottish history; the revolutions, uprisings, famines etc. Herman works hard to dismantle the romantic vision many have of the clans and clan system, and appears to do so objectively.

How the Scots Invented the Modern World - Arthur Herman How the Scots Invented the Modern World - Arthur Herman

But despite this, and again, like How the Irish Saved Civilization, it still manages to be a good and readable book.

At the time of publication, the author was the coordinator of the Western Civilization Program at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Arrange and join those pieces on the larger background of historical context to create a vital story -- that is, show how all that potentially-boring data relates to earlier, contemporary, and later events, persons, etc.