History Scotland Magazine: Review - Scotland: A History, Fiona Watson

Scotland A History, 8000 BC - AD 2000

Fiona Watson

Tempus Publishing Fiona Watson, 2002 ISBN 0 7524 2331 2 9.99

This is a reprint of the original 2001 bestseller by Fiona Watson, Scotlands answer to Simon Schama (as it says on the back cover). According to the publisher, this new print-run has been produced in a new format with more illustrations, better layout and a lower price in order to make it more accessible for the general reader. How far does it succeed in this aim?

The book is certainly very readable. Despite the fact that she sets out to tackle 10,000 years of history, Watson succeeds in keeping her readers attention throughout and, as a first introduction to the history of Scotland, the book works very well. Although the book offers a good amount of information about the rulers of the Scottish kingdoms, in particular the Stewarts, Watson avoids the trap of concentrating too much on Kings and Queens and always discusses how ordinary peoples lives would have been affected by any social or political change. She makes good use of archaeological evidence to compensate for the absence of documentary evidence for the first 9,000 years of her time period and shows how the different geographical and physical environments of Scotland impacted on the way communities lived and grew.

Although Scotlands relationship with its near neighbour and auld enemy England has to be one of the main themes of any history of the area, Watson tries to treat English influence on Scottish history as a constant theme in its context, rather than the defining element. She shows how conflicts with England, while important for forging Scottish identity, meant that the western Highlands and Islands were not fully integrated into political life for many centuries, creating a major political divide between the north and south of the highland line from the middle ages onwards. She also discusses how strong local government evolved to compensate for frequent power vacuums at the royal court during royal minorities? how many Scottish kings died peacefully in their beds of old age? Another important theme throughout the book is the influence of religion on both social and political history in Scotland. As Watson points out, everything we know about medieval Scotland, whether from government documents or chronicles, was written by a churchman, and many were actually composed by them.

This book is a useful and enjoyable introduction to the history of the country, which would also help put an experts knowledge of one particular era into a much wider context. Of course, a book with such a wide time frame can only present an overview of events, and some references, for example to witchcraft or Red Clydeside, are tantalising in their brevity. Some periods of history are given more attention than others, for example, the impact of the First World War on Scotland receives only half a page. At times, Watson makes reference to events or people without fully explaining them ? she does assume some knowledge in her readers which they might not possess, particularly if they are from outwith Scotland or are one of the younger generation, attracted to Scottish history by television programmes such as Watsons. However, there is a useful guide to further reading at the back of the book for those who are enthused to continue their research.

Overall, Scotland A History does succeed in making Scottish history accessible to the general reader. It is a lively and enjoyable read with a good blend of archaeology, economic and social, and political history, and interesting and useful illustrations throughout. For 9.99 it would be difficult to find a better introduction to the fascinating story of Scotlands past.

Sarah Pedersen,
The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen