Now in paperback, this lively and engrossing work traces the history of Scotland' s many contributions to our culture, drawing on the most recent research of scholars and historians to demonstrate just how central the Scots have been in the making of what historians call 'the great transformation' - the rise of the West into the world' s dominant power. How the Scots Invented the Modrern World was a veritable hardcover smash, selling more than 48,000 copies in five printings and landing on bestseller lists across the nation, including the Washington Post and the Independent Bestseller List. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.īook Description Paperback.

How the Scots Invented the Modern World reveals how Scottish genius for creating the basic ideas and institutions of modern life stamped the lives of a series of remarkable historical figures, from James Watt and Adam Smith to Andrew Carnegie and Arthur Conan Doyle, and how Scottish heroes continue to inspire our contemporary culture, from William 'Braveheart' Wallace to James Bond.Īnd no one who takes this incredible historical trek will ever view the Scots-or the modern West-in the same way again. Constitution and how thousands of Scottish immigrants left their homes to create the American frontier, the Australian outback, and the British Empire in India and Hong Kong. Here is the untold story of how John Knox and the Church of Scotland laid the foundation for our modern idea of democracy how the Scottish Enlightenment helped to inspire both the American Revolution and the U.S. Herman has charted a fascinating journey across the centuries of Scottish history. As historian and author Arthur Herman reveals, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Scotland made crucial contributions to science, philosophy, literature, education, medicine, commerce, and politics-contributions that have formed and nurtured the modern West ever since. Who formed the first literate society? Who invented our modern ideas of democracy and free market capitalism? The Scots. An exciting account of the origins of the modern world

How scotland invented the modern world