And indeed, the literary did win out in the battle for the Scottish soul – although the non-fiction titles are anything but dull.
I start with a wonderful collection
“Who
Built Scotland? 25 journeys in search of a nation” (epub 2017) which showcases the local contemporary
talent of poet/essayist Kathleen Jamie, writers James Robertson, Alex McCall
Smith and Alistair Moffat and broadcaster
James Crawford – with their evocations of Scottish architecture, libraries,
archaeology and ruins.
My only beef is that their
25 selections are perhaps a trite too obvious – where, for example, is my home
town of Greenock which boasts such luminaries as novelists John Galt, George Blake
and Alan
Sharp; poet WS
Graham and theatre director Bill
Bryden ?
Kathleen Jamie was recently named Scotland’s “Makar” and can be seen here reciting a couple of poems here
My second choice is slightly unusual in that it goes to an online magazine “The Scottish Review” whose anthologies of great short essays can be fully downloaded here. The weekly represents the true spirit of the country – with essays freely contributed by philosophers, historians, journalists, even the odd politician. It was started by journalist Kenneth Roy whose journalism lives on in The Invisible Spirit – a life of post-war Scotland 1945-75 (2013). Even his memorial service gives a certain sense of the society he lived in
My third choice moves us into the non-fiction and is from a real original – historian
Christopher Harvie who spent some 25 years at Tubingen University before
returning to Scotland in 2007 to become a SNP member of the new Scottish Parliament
(for 4 years only) He writes with extensive allusions and real panache. His Scotland –
a short history was originally published in 2002 and later editions don’t really take account of the considerable scholarship which has taken place since.
But it’s still a great read – as is my final choice The Scottish Enlightenment – how Scotland invented the modern world by an American, Arthur Henman (2001) which can be read in full here. Reviewer have been a bit sniffy about this book – with its typically American sub-title – but it is well-crafted and holds the reader. I would love to know what Harvie made of the book - but can't unearth any comment
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