Scottish Clearances

'A superb book ... Anybody interested in Scottish history needs to read it' Andrew Marr, Sunday Times

Eighteenth-centuryScotland is famed for generating many of theenlightened ideas whichhelped to shape the modern world. But there wasin the same periodanother side to the history of the nation. Many ofScotland's peoplewere subjected to coercive and sometimes violentchange, as traditionalways of life were overturned by the 'rational'exploitation of landuse. The Scottish Clearances is a superb andhighly original account ofthis sometimes terrible process, whichchanged the Lowland countrysideforever, as it also did, moreinfamously, the old society of theHighlands.

Based on a vastarray of original sources, thispioneering book is the first to chartthis tumultuous saga in onevolume, with due attention to evictions andloss of land in both northand south of the Highland line. In theprocess, old myths are explodedand familiar assumptions undermined.With many fascinating details andthe sense of an epic human story, The Scottish Clearances is anevocative memorial to all whose lives were irreparably changed in theinterests of economic efficiency.

Thisis a story of forcedclearance, of the destruction of entirecommunities and of large-scaleemigration. Some winners were able toadapt and exploit the newopportunities, but there were also others wholost everything. Theclearances created the landscape of Scotland today,but it came at ahuge price.

Reviews

Powerful ... admirable lucidity ... important.