Land and people
A good review of the geography of Scotland is Chalmers M. Clapperton (ed.), Scotland, a New Study (1983). W.H. Murray, The Hebrides, new and rev. ed. (1975), and The Companion Guide to the West Highlands of Scotland (1984), are informative regional accounts. Other helpful volumes include F. Fraser Darling and J. Morton Boyd, The Highlands and Islands, 2nd ed. (1969, reissued 1989); J.B. Whittow, Geology and Scenery in Scotland (1977); and Gordon Y. Craig (ed.), Geology of Scotland, 3rd ed. (1991).
The people of Scotland are discussed in Nathaniel Harris, Heritage of Scotland: A Cultural History of Scotland & Its People (2000); and James McCarthy, An Inhabited Solitude: Scotland, Land and People (1998). Urban and rural planning issues are the subject of Roderick Macdonald and Huw Thomas (eds.), Nationality and Planning in Scotland and Wales (1997).
Economy
Key statistics on the Scottish economy are available in publications from the Scottish Executive, including the Scottish Abstract of Statistics (annual); Scotland: An Economic Profile, 2nd ed. (1991); Regional Trends (annual); Scottish Economic Bulletin (biennial); and the Scottish Economic Report (semiannual). Additional data can be found in publications from the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde, including the Quarterly Economic Commentary.
A useful account of the economy is Keith P.D. Ingham and James Love (eds.), Understanding the Scottish Economy (1983). An accessible contemporary account is Jeremy Peat and Stephen Boyle, An Illustrated Guide to the Scottish Economy, ed. by Bill Jamieson (1999). W.H. Marwick, A Short History of Labour in Scotland (1967), analyzes trade unions; and the role of the Scottish Trades Union Congress is discussed in Keith Aitken, The Bairns O’Adam: The Story of the STUC (1997).
Government and society
Surveys of politics include James G. Kellas, Modern Scotland, 2nd ed. (1980), and The Scottish Political System, 4th ed. (1989). The home rule debate has inspired a prolific literature, including Jack Brand, The National Movement in Scotland (1978); H.J. Hanham, Scottish Nationalism (1969); Christopher Harvie, Scotland and Nationalism: Scottish Society and Politics, 1707 to the Present, 3rd ed. (1998); and Christopher Harvie and Peter Jones, The Road to Home Rule (2000). Governmental issues are surveyed in The Scottish Government Yearbook (1978–92); in its successor, Scottish Affairs (quarterly); and in John S. Gibson, The Thistle and the Crown: A History of the Scottish Office (1985). Accounts of Scottish politics also include Andrew Marr, The Battle for Scotland (1992, reissued 1995); Lindsay Paterson, The Autonomy of Modern Scotland (1994), and A Diverse Assembly: The Debate on a Scottish Parliament (1998); Alice Brown, David McCrone, and Lindsay Paterson, Politics and Society in Scotland, 2nd ed. (1998); Alice Brown, The Scottish Electorate: The 1997 General Election and Beyond (1999); and Brian Taylor, The Scottish Parliament (1999; also published as The Road to the Scottish Parliament, 2002).
Brief introductions to Scottish law include Michael C. Meston, W. David H. Sellar, and Lord Cooper (Cooper of Culross, Thomas Mackay Cooper), The Scottish Legal Tradition, new enlarged ed., ed. by Scott Crichton Styles (1991); and Scottish Law Commission, The Legal System of Scotland, 3rd ed. (1981). Trends in health care are outlined in Health in Scotland (annual); and Scottish Health Statistics (annual).
Cultural life
The national cultural heritage is explored in diverse works, including David Daiches (ed.), A New Companion to Scottish Culture, rev. and updated ed. (1993; previously published as A Companion to Scottish Culture, 1981), a comprehensive reference source. Traditional culture is explored in John Telfer Dunbar, History of Highland Dress: A Definitive Study of the History of Scottish Costume and Tartan, Both Civil and Military, Including Weapons, 2nd ed. (1979); Robert Bain, The Clans and Tartans of Scotland, 5th ed., enlarged and ed. by Margaret O. MacDougall (1976, reprinted 1984); John Purser, Scotland’s Music: A History of the Traditional and Classical Music of Scotland from Earliest Times to the Present Day (1992); J.F. Flett and T.M. Flett, Traditional Dancing in Scotland (1964, reissued 1985); and Jenny Carter and Janet Rae, Chambers Guide to Traditional Crafts of Scotland (1988).
Architecture is addressed in John G. Dunbar, The Architecture of Scotland, 2nd rev. ed. (1978); and Miles Glendinning, Ranald MacInnes, and Aonghus MacKechnis (eds.), A History of Scottish Architecture: From the Renaissance to the Present Day (1996). Art and painting are treated in Duncan Macmillan, Scottish Art, 1460–2000 (2000); William Hardie, Scottish Painting 1837 to the Present, rev. ed. (1990, reissued 1994; previously published as Scottish Painting 1837–1939, 1976); and Edward Gage, The Eye in the Wind: Scottish Painting Since 1945 (1977).
Scottish literature is the subject of Roderick Watson, The Literature of Scotland (1984); Cairns Craig (ed.), The History of Scottish Literature, 4 vol. (1987–89); and Trevor Royle, The Macmillan Companion to Scottish Literature (1983, reissued 1985). The theatre is explored in David Hutchison, The Modern Scottish Theatre (1977).
History
General works and periodicals
A comprehensive reference work on all aspects of Scottish history is Michael Lynch (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Scottish History (2001), which contains an excellent bibliography. Other reference works include Nigel M. de S. Cameron (ed.), Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology (1993); Derick S. Thomson (ed.) The Companion to Gaelic Scotland (1983, reissued 1994); and P.G.B. McNeill and Hector L. MacQueen (eds.), Atlas of Scottish History to 1707 (1996). A general history is Michael Lynch, Scotland: A New History (1992).
Valuable periodicals include The Scottish Historical Review (semiannual); Scottish Economic and Social History (annual); The Innes Review (semiannual); Northern Scotland (annual); and History Scotland (bimonthly), an illustrated magazine.
Early Scottish history
Although readers should be aware that the opinions of historians diverge to a great extent on Scotland’s early history, that period can be studied in Alfred P. Smyth, Warlords to Holy Men: Scotland, ad 80–1000 (1984); G.W.S. Barrow, Kingship and Unity: Scotland, 1000–1306, 2nd ed. (2003); and Archibald A.M. Duncan, Scotland, the Making of the Kingdom (1975, reissued 1989). The medieval period is well covered in Ranald Nicholson, Scotland: The Later Middle Ages (1974, reissued 1989); Alexander Grant, Independence and Nationhood: Scotland, 1306–1469 (1984, reissued 1991); and Ian D. Whyte, Scotland Before the Industrial Revolution: An Economic and Social History, c. 1050–c. 1750 (1995).
Modern Scottish history
The early modern period of Scottish history can be explored through T.C. Smout, A History of the Scottish People, 1560–1830 (1969, reissued 1998), which was seminal when first issued and is still a rewarding read. A useful collection of essays is Robert Allan Houston and Ian D. Whyte (eds.), Scottish Society, 1500–1800 (1989, reissued 2002). Short, accessible introductions to the period are provided by Jenny Wormald, Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625 (1981, reprinted 1991); and Rosalind Mitchison, Lordship to Patronage: Scotland, 1603–1745 (1983, reprinted 1990).
A comprehensive survey of the modern period is T.M. Devine, The Scottish Nation, 1700–2000 (1999, reissued 2001). William Ferguson, Scotland, 1689 to the Present (1968, reissued 1987), remains very valuable on political and intellectual history of the 18th and 19th centuries. Original documents and key readings in modern Scottish history are collected in Anthony Cooke et al. (eds.), Modern Scottish History 1707 to the Present (1998).
Social histories include T.M. Devine and Rosalind Mitchison (eds.), People and Society in Scotland, 1760–1830, vol. 1 (1988); W. Hamish Fraser and R.J. Morris (eds.), People and Society in Scotland, 1830–1914, vol. 2 (1990); and Tony Dickson and James H. Treble (eds.), People and Society in Scotland, 1914–1990, vol. 3 (1992). T.M. Devine and J.R. Young (eds.), Eighteenth Century Scotland: New Perspectives (1999), contains essays on a wide variety of subjects.
Christopher A. Whatley, Scottish Society, 1707-1830: Beyond Jacobitism, Towards Industrialisation (2000), is a detailed survey of social history based on much original research. Shorter studies include David Allan, Scotland in the Eighteenth Century: Union and Enlightenment (2002); John Stuart Shaw, The Political History of Eighteenth Century Scotland (1999); Bruce Lenman, Integration, Enlightenment, and Industrialization: Scotland, 1746–1832 (1981); John F. McCaffrey, Scotland in the Nineteenth Century (1998); Sydney Checkland and Olive Checkland, Industry and Ethos: Scotland, 1832–1914, 2nd ed. (1989); and T.C. Smout, A Century of the Scottish People, 1830–1950 (1986, reissued 1997). I.G.C. Hutchison, A Political History of Scotland, 1832–1924: Parties, Elections and Issues (1986), is encyclopaedic on its subject.
Economic history is explored in R.H. Campbell, Scotland Since 1707: The Rise of an Industrial Society, 2nd ed. (1985). A mixture of social and economic history is provided by Bruce Lenman, An Economic History of Modern Scotland, 1660–1976 (1977); and W.W. Knox, Industrial Nation: Work, Culture and Society in Scotland, 1800–Present (1999).
Twentieth-century Scottish history is examined in T.M. Devine and R.J. Finlay (eds.), Scotland in the Twentieth Century (1996), which contains a series of thematic essays; Christopher Harvie, No Gods and Precious Few Heroes: Twentieth Century Scotland, 3rd ed. (1998); and I.G.C. Hutchison, Scottish Politics in the Twentieth Century (2001).