Overview

Providing a reassessment of John Hill Burton, a significant figure in 19th-century Scottish thought, this book presents a revision of the predominant historiographic interpretation of nineteenth-century Scotland. It traces Burton's remarkably diverse social and intellectual acquaintance, and equally varied literary endeavours, from his early life and education in 1820s Aberdeen to his increasingly prominent profile in the Edinburgh of Scott, Jeffrey and Cockburn. A detailed assessment of Burton's History of Scotland (1873) uncovers major themes which are then related to his formative experiences in the social and cultural world of his time. This analysis and an examination of the enthusiastic reception of the work at home and abroad overturn orthodox assumptions of the 'death' of Scottish history in the 19th century.

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9781474491471

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""Beveridge has written a compelling and important book, ingeniously and reflexively designed as a work of history about a landmark work of history. This is vital reading for anyone wishing to understand the permutations of national or, for that matter, unionist history in Scotland."" -Matthew Wickman, Professor of English, Brigham Young University

"""Beveridge has written a compelling and important book, ingeniously and reflexively designed as a work of history about a landmark work of history. This is vital reading for anyone wishing to understand the permutations of national or, for that matter, unionist history in Scotland."" -Matthew Wickman, Professor of English, Brigham Young University"

Author Information

Craig Beveridge is an independent scholar who trained and pursued research in history at the University of Edinburgh where he won the Kirkpatrick Prize. He subsequently pursued a career in public service management but continued to research and write. His previous publications include Scotland After Enlightenment: Image and Tradition in Modern Scottish Culture (Polygon, 1997) and The Eclipse of Scottish Culture: Inferiorism and the Intellectuals, (Polygon, 1989), both co-authored with R. M. Turnbull.These works attracted public interest and controversy, were widely reviewed, and have continued to be recognised and cited in prominent books from a variety of standpoints as distinctive contributions to the debates on Scottish culture and historiography over recent decades.He has been recognised as an prominent figure in the cultural and political reappraisal which began following the failed 1979 Referendum on the Scottish constitution, arguing for a reassertion of Scottish cultural identity both in terms of the country's intellectual traditions and in response to predominant historiographic approaches which devalorised the nation's past. He advanced these aims both in the above works and as an influential contributor to the leading Scottish cultural magazines of the 1980s and 1990s.

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