The Scots and the Union : : Then and Now / / Christopher Whatley.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Edinburgh University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015
• VerfasserIn: Whatley, Christopher,
• Place / Publishing House: Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , [2022]; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (480 p.)

The cornerstone text on the Union between Scotland and England, brought up-to-date in the face of debates on present-day independenceGBS_insertPreviewButtonPopup(['ISBN:9780748680269','ISBN:9780748680276','ISBN:9780748680283']);This book traces the background to the Treaty of Union of 1707, explains why it happened and assesses its impact on Scottish society, including the bitter struggle with the Jacobites for acceptance of the union in the two decades that followed its inauguration. The first edition was radical in reinterpreting the causes of union, rejecting the widely held notion that the Scots were bought and sold for English gold and instead placing emphasis on the international, dynastic and religious contexts of the union negotiations. This new edition brings the historical debate up to a vigorous present, in which we are once again discussing such issues and opinions, lending historical weight to arguments for and against union. Public opinion in Scotland in 1707 was sharply divided, between advocates, opponents, and a large body of ‘don’t knows’. In 1706-7 party (and dynastic) advantage was the driving force behind opposition to the proposed union at elite level, while the spectre of French aggression, the desire to secure the 1688-89 Revolution and the need to defend Protestantism all boosted the Unionist cause: Scotland is in a quite different position in the 21st century - what will she choose? Praise for the First Edition: ‘Marks an important historiographical development for a mature understanding and appreciation of the events and issues relating to the 1707 union. It can now be regarded as the leading work on 1707. Should be compulsory reading for all MSPs and media commentators, irrespective of their own political party allegiances and viewpoints, and for anyone who has an interest in Scottish history.’ - John R. Young, Scottish Review of Books ‘The most complete and nuanced account of the state of the Scottish economy in the period between the Revolution of 1688 and the Union of 1707.’ - John Morrill FBA, Times Higher Education ‘An important and finely argued book. … Everyone who seriously wants to understand how and why modern Scotland came into being should read it.’ - T. C. Smout, Historiographer Royal in Scotland ‘Whatley’s careful research, spliced with fascinating detail, reveals the sophisticated politics used by these Scots and reclaims them as patriots. It is a magnificent study of the politics of the time. . Whatley has done the history of the period a great service, stripping away the myths and revealing sophisticated people making sophisticated decisions.’ - Ruaridh Nicoll, The Observer ‘It is an impressive achievement, which sets the agenda for discussions of the Union then, and the Union now’ - Iain Maclean, University of Oxford, Scottish Historical Review ‘With this volume, Whatley has achieved an important revision of what has been, for too long, an unsatisfactory, politically motivated account. Derived from meticulous scholarship and should reset the historiography of Scotland and Great Britain regardless of its political implications.’ - Alan H. Singer, Honors College, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, H-Net"

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of plates -- Note on style and abbreviations -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Introduction: contrasting and changing receptions of the Union of 1707 -- 1. Issues, debates and aims -- 2. Scotland under the union of the crowns to the Revolution of 1688–9: searching for the roots of union -- 3. Roots of union: ambition and achievement and the aftermath of the Revolution -- 4. The 1690s: a nation in crisis -- 5. ‘The most neglected if not opprest State in Europe’? Confrontations and the search for compromise, 1700–5 -- 6. Digging Scotland out: Parliament and the reconstruction of the pathway towards union, 1705–6 -- 7. Paving the way: the union commissioners and the hearts and minds of the people -- 8. ‘An affair of the greatest concern and import’: the union Parliament and the Scottish nation -- 9. Union in the balance, union accomplished -- 10. Union now -- Appendices -- Select bibliography -- Index