When Scotland Ruled the World - The Story of the Golden Age of Genius, Creativity and Exploration (Hardcover)

In 1750 Scotland had emerged from half a century of civil strife. Its parliament was subsumed by Westminster, English troops kept an eye open for any signs of Jacobite rebellion, and the kilt was forbidden. But despite all this, Scotland was to enjoy an unprecedented period of resurgence and influence which lasted 200 years. This book is the story of that period and the people who dominated it with their ideas and their entrepreneurial skills, explorers in every area of human thought.It is the story of a people who thrived on the Union and the Empire, and exercised influence far beyond their numbers and their position on the fringes of north-western Europe. The Calvinist system of church/state concordat enabled the frustrations which elsewhere resulted in revolution to pass Scotland by and her energies to be sublimated into creative enterprises.This fascinating portrait of the golden age of Scottish history includes:• the seedbed of the “democratic intellect” – Adam Smith, David Hume, etc• writers including Robert Burns, Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, etc• scientists – many names, culminating in Logie Baird, Watson, Watt and Fleming.• engineers of the Empire• missionaries and explorers (David Livingstone was the most famous, but there were others)• medical men – pioneers of surgery and medicine