Tämä sivusto käyttää evästeitä palvelujen toimittamiseen, toiminnan parantamiseen, analytiikkaan ja (jos et ole kirjautunut sisään) mainostamiseen. Käyttämällä LibraryThingiä ilmaiset, että olet lukenut ja ymmärtänyt käyttöehdot ja yksityisyydensuojakäytännöt. Sivujen ja palveluiden käytön tulee olla näiden ehtojen ja käytäntöjen mukaista.
How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 2001; vuoden 2001 painos)
Now in paperback, this lively bestseller 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 throughout the rise of the West.
How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It (tekijä: Arthur Herman) (2001)
I originally read a copy owned by Mom approximately 5-10 years previous to buying this copy.
This stood in my head for the proposition that sometimes a culture can be fundamentally broken -- and the way out is to adopt a more successful culture from elsewhere, and then go back and pick up the elements of the old/original culture as one chooses out of a romantic nostalgia.
Fairly recently I learned that I have a good amount of Scottish heritage in my family background. I picked up this book to try to learn a little more about my ancestral roots. I was not disappointed! The sheer number of Scots that made a name for themselves in the last couple centuries was overwhelming. This book gives not only some (mostly recent) history of Scotland, but gives many stories and details of Scots who have made an impact in the world from the 1600s on.
If you're any kind of a history nerd or just want to know more about modern Scotland, this book is a great read. ( )
The Scots certainly made a great contribution to the world in many ways. But like a lot of nations it had its rise and fall. Throughout history groups of men, indipendent of nations, have been the cause of change. One day when nations no longer exist and the world looks upon itself as a single entity containing areas within which different characters or cultures exist freely, there will still be, no doubt, groups of people who are contributing great things to the world as a whole.
Though it was curious to read about Bonnie Prince Charles's ill-fated adventure and the beginning of Great Britain, the next chunk on David Hume etc. was really tough so i fast forwarded to Walter Scott, mostly skimming through yet pausing to read about the august visit of George IV to Scotland and it's unbelievable repercussions that followed Sir Walter's cunning machinations with the image of Scots. Until i finally hit upon what was most interesting in and what i expected most of the book- not theoretical foundations of modern world but rather practical betterments to humans' lot introduced by or with the help of Scots. Alas, this part occupies only less than a third of the book. Good thing is that it is jam-packed with multiple events and inventions that brought in Industrial revolution and many other changes, which indeed made our world what it is today, more or less. There we meet interesting types (known and unknown) and learn who of those brilliant people was in fact a Scot ( for example, James Cook ;). Names and stories of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Lipton ( tea magnate), Tommy Dewar and John Walker ( both whiskey kings) and the two guys, who actually instigated Opium Wars make it all a very interesting read. And dozens of names are just mentioned in passing (Dunlop, McIntosh) hinting at most enjoyable Wikipedia detours :) Yammy!
Although I enjoyed reading this, I think it would have been a better book with a narrower focus. I enjoyed learning about the Scottish Enlightenment and would have enjoyed more depth on that but it started including a great many other topics that started to feel less and less connected to the Enlightenment period and by the the end it felt more like a collection of potted biographies of famous Scottish people.
Tiedot englanninkielisestä Yhteisestä tiedosta.Muokkaa kotoistaaksesi se omalle kielellesi.
Is it not strange that at a time when we have lost our Princes, our Parliaments, our independent government, even the Presence of our chief Nobility, are unhappy in our accent and pronunciation, speak a very corrupt Dialect of the Tongue which we make use of, I say, that in these Circumstances, we shou'd really be the People most distinguished for Literature in Europe? -David Hume, 1757 (Part One: Epiphany)
The constant influx of information and of liberality from abroad, which was thus kept up in Scotland in consequence of the ancient habits and manners of the people, may help to account for the sudden burst of genius, which to a foreigner must seem have sprung up in this country by a sort of enchantment, soon after the Rebellion of 1745. -Dugald Stewart (Part One: Epiphany)
Omistuskirjoitus
Ensimmäiset sanat
Tiedot englanninkielisestä Yhteisestä tiedosta.Muokkaa kotoistaaksesi se omalle kielellesi.
Preface People of Scottish descent are usually proud about their history and achievements.
Prologue The Tron Church stands on Edinburgh's High Street, almost at the midpoint of the Royal Mile, which rises to Edinburgh Castle at one end and slopes down to Holyrood Palace at the other.
Chapter One Just as the German Reformation was largely the work of a single individual, Martin Luther, so the Scottish Reformation was the achievement of one man of heroic will and tireless energy: John Knox.
Sitaatit
Viimeiset sanat
Tiedot englanninkielisestä Yhteisestä tiedosta.Muokkaa kotoistaaksesi se omalle kielellesi.
The Scottish mind grasped how, in Hume's words, "liberty is the perfection of civil society," but "authority must be acknowledged essential to its very existence"; and how a strong faith in progress also requires a keen appreciation of its limitations.
Now in paperback, this lively bestseller 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 throughout the rise of the West.
)
Google Books — Ladataan...
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This stood in my head for the proposition that sometimes a culture can be fundamentally broken -- and the way out is to adopt a more successful culture from elsewhere, and then go back and pick up the elements of the old/original culture as one chooses out of a romantic nostalgia.