Scotland: An Autobiography

"A spirited collection of witnessing from all the periods of Scottish history"—in the words of Cromwell to Conan Doyle, poets to nurses to warriors (The New York Review of Books). This is a vivid, wide-ranging account of Scotland's history, composed of numerous stories and observations by those who experienced it firsthand through the centuries. Contributors range from Tacitus, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Oliver Cromwell to Adam Smith, David Livingstone, and Billy Connolly. These include not only historic moments—from Bannockburn to the opening of the new Parliament in 1999—but also testimonies like that of the eight-year-old factory worker who was dangled by his ear out of a third-floor window for making a mistake; the survivors of the 1746 Battle of Culloden, who wished perhaps that they had died on the field; John Logie Baird, inventor of television; and great writers including Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and the editor of Encyclopedia Britannica. From the battlefield to the sports field, this is living, accessible history told by criminals, servants, housewives, poets, journalists, nurses, prisoners, comedians, and many more. Read more