Scotland: The Story of a Nation
by Magnus Magnusson

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Book Reviews of Scotland: The Story of a Nation

Book Review: Review of Magnus Magnussons Scotland: the Story of a Nation
Summary: 4 Stars

The book is large enough to be comprehensive without being unduly dry. The essential details of each part of Scotland's history have been carefully selected and mixed with the best of the more trivial information to produce the only history of our country yet where I've managed to get past the Battle of Bannockburn before it's gone back to the library. I did, though, have a small problem trying to keep a track of who the characters were at certain point, hardly the author's fault since these are set for him by history, and it seems to me that the Duke of Montrose played a part in almost everything for about 500 years - could this be an ambitious family gene or a case of extreme longevity.

This book is based on Walter Scott's "Tales of a Grandfather" and towards the end has a large part devoted to Scott. Scott finishes his history at the union of the crowns as he saw this as the end of Scottish history proper. Mr. Magnusson finishes his comprehensive history early too - a little later after the Jacobite uprising. The remains of the book appear to just sketch in the remaining century and a half in what seemed to me an essay on the fall and rise of Scottish independence cumulating in the beginnings of the new Scottish parliament (it's good to read about something still so fresh in my mind). While it seems that Walter Scott's book was blatantly political, it's approach to history omitting the bits where they didn't quite meet the ideology, this book strives to be neutral and for the better part of it almost succeeds, although towards the end I thought I had a fair idea where Magnus Magnusson's x goes on a ballot paper.

Having been returned to the bookshelf, it has already been taken off once or twice for reference and is an excellent volume for dipping into from time to time to refresh my memory or national pride.

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