Scottish History by David Ross

This is a fun and informative romp through over 2000 years of Scottish history, all boiled down to 150 pithy vignettes in this 160-page paperback. Learn about the Romans in Scotland, the spread of Christianity, the rise and fall of kings, rebellions, exploration and more. Despite its bite-size format, this is volume pitched at readers who have some familiarity with the the history of Scotland.  Author David Ross has written extensively on Scotland and its culture – with books on placenames, quotations and sur names as a part of this popular series. Ross knows that many of his readers are already well versed in some of the big dates of Scotland’s sweeping history. But whether you have milestone dates like the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 nicely stowed away in your memory, or whether your interest in Scottish history means new factoids are found every day, this book will surely offer fresh insights. Organized chronologically, none of the events or subjects takes up more than a page. That means subjects that have entire books devoted to them get distilled and compressed. Each page has surprising details, with connections to wider themes in Scottish history. Take, for instance, the entry on “1413” and the Papal Bull that allowed for the creation of St. Andrews University: the role that wars and legal hurdles abroad played in the need for an institution of higher learning on Scottish soil. American readers might be surprised (and edified?) to have the year of 1776 contextualized by reference to both the death of Scottish philosopher and historian David Hume and the publication date of Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations,” his friend and fellow Scotsman. More recent events are covered as well, like the creation of the National Health Service in 1948, and the closure of the trams in Glasgow in 1962, as well as dates still fresh in the minds of many, like the Covid epidemic in 2020 and the end of Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership role in national politics in 2023.