The Scottish Nation: Identity and History

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William Ferguson is a pioneering scholar who has published major work on modern Scottish history and its importance to ‘the identity of the Scottish nation’ (the title of his last published book). The essays in this volume were specially written by former colleagues and students of Ferguson, including some of Scotland’s leading historians, to reflect the impressive range of his interests, from the medieval/early modern period to the present. He has never been afraid to be controversial, and if the essays in this volume do not fully reflect the controversial quality of some of his work, they demonstrate the importance of his contribution to the modern revival of Scottish history as part of Scottish culture and politics.

Contents: ‘Scotching the Beggars: John the Commonweal and Scottish History’, ‘Paper Monuments: Collecting the Lives of Scots’, ‘The Legacy of the Revolution in Scotland’, ‘The Life and Death of the Notorious Captain John Porteous’, ‘The King’s Men or Glengarry’s?: Discipline in a Newly Raised Highland Regiment during the Napoleonic Wars’, ‘Scotland and The Ministry of All the Talents, 1806–1807’, ‘Moderates and Wild Men: Politics, Religion and Party Division in the Church of Scotland’, ‘The Scottish Young Conservatives: A Local case Study’, ‘Thatcherism, Civil Society and the Road to Home Rule; Scotland 1980–1997’.

Alexander Murdoch is Senior Lecturer in Scottish History in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh.