The Scottish Nation: A History, 1700-2000
Scotland had long been a de facto colony of England by the  time the Act of Union between the two countries was signed in  1707. Even so, writes historianT.M. Devine,  it was a colony that proudly refused to consider itself anything other  than a separate nation, one that bound itself to historical fact and  invented traditions alike in an effort to retain national  identity. Scotland, Devine writes, fell to England for many reasons,  not least of them its small and scattered population. Keenly aware of  its status as a subject nation, Scotland still contributed greatly,  and disproportionately, to the development of the British Empire--not  only by sending its Highland regiments off to battle in distant lands  and its people to colonize large parts of the world, but also by  committing itself to industrial and technological development, a  contribution that created great commercial fortunes in Edinburgh and  London alike.Devine charts the uneasy relationship between Scotland and England,  focusing closely on the growth of Scottish ideas of independence and  self-rule through the last three centuries. Those ideas, he notes with  satisfaction, led in July 1999 to the meeting of the first Scottish  parliament since 1707. His epic, forward-looking historical study is  without peer, and students of Scotland's past and present will find  much of value in its pages.--Gregory McNamee--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.