How the Scots Invented the Modern World

One of the most elegant, impressive and truely transformational books I have ever read. Thank you Arthur for this amazing piece of literature.

A truly amazing work that ties up so many aspects of our modern world. David Hume, Robert Adams, Adam Smith ... such a delight to know more about these titans of modern history in a brief and highly engaging manner.

Brilliant! I have read it 3 times and keep learning something new.

As I admitted when I gave this book to Mom, the tongue-in-cheek nature of the title had certainly piqued my curiosity enough that I was ready to buy it just from that. But, when I started to look into this book more, I found it to be no laughing matter. That it is 100% legitimate and extremely informative. Mom said it's a perfect reference guide because it cites so many sources in the back that it makes it easy for anybody wanting to know even more about anything to know where to look next. She just said it was hard to read straight through at times because, as I said, the book isn't a laughing matter and is packed with historical information; some of which may not be specifically of interest to you but would very much be of interest to others. It provides a great foundation ... and then also helps develop a roadmap for how to progress within the book itself ... and then where to jump off to other sources for more details. This thorough overview book helped explain a lot and make the various Clan-based history digests we also found make even more sense.

Cheguei nesse livro devido a uma pesquisa que fiz para escrever um artigo sobre a Escócia. Excelente surpresa. Eu não conhecia a história do Iluminismo Escocês ou, pelo menos, nunca tinha ligado os pontos. O livro conta a história da Escócia na era moderna e nos mostra como um país empobrecido perde sua soberania mas, ao mesmo tempo, dá a volta por cima e influencia todo o mundo moderno na forma que ele é hoje.Altamente recomendado.

When I first read the title I was a bit sceptical. Then I started to read and the story which unfolded was amazing. Scotland must have been a beleaguered country after Culloden, and the fact that they emerged into such a powerhouse of knowledge and science and learning was inspirational.

This book went into a lot of minute detail particularly about early days of government and Parliament. My biggest problem was the small type in which the book was printed, and I gave up after about 50 pages. Given that a large part of the buying public for history books would probably be in their senior years and that we don't have 20/20 vision anymore, this fact simply added to the disappointment. Perhaps when books are described it should include the type size in which the book is published. It would certainly save some people a lot of money in the long term. Oh well, another book for the charity bookstall.