The Caledoniad
The Making of Scottish History
Will be published approx. on 18. June 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
560 pages
978-0-85976-749-1 (ISBN)
Description
Winner of the 2025 Frank Watson Book Prize
Why did Scots in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries know so little about their past and even less about those who controlled their history? Is the historical narrative the only legitimate medium through which the past can be made known? Are novelists and historians as far apart as convention has it? In an age when history grounds any claims to national status, these are important questions and they have implications for how Scottish history has evolved, and how Scottish identity has been understood up to the present day.
Scottish history is not simply the distillation of Scotland's past: authors shape what we know and how we judge our forebears. This book investigates who decided which Scottish voices of the past would be heard in history's pages and which would ultimately be silenced. It sketches a picture of a narrow and privileged cultural elite that responded belatedly to a more democratic age and only slowly embraced women writers and the interests of 'average' Scots. Integrating historical fiction and popular histories in its appreciation of the Scottish historical imaginary, it most importantly tells the story of why, despite the interests of politicians and others, a truly British history has never emerged.
'A brilliant, scholarly yet highly readable work which enlarges our understanding of what Scottish history is, and reinforces why it really matters' - James Robertson
Why did Scots in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries know so little about their past and even less about those who controlled their history? Is the historical narrative the only legitimate medium through which the past can be made known? Are novelists and historians as far apart as convention has it? In an age when history grounds any claims to national status, these are important questions and they have implications for how Scottish history has evolved, and how Scottish identity has been understood up to the present day.
Scottish history is not simply the distillation of Scotland's past: authors shape what we know and how we judge our forebears. This book investigates who decided which Scottish voices of the past would be heard in history's pages and which would ultimately be silenced. It sketches a picture of a narrow and privileged cultural elite that responded belatedly to a more democratic age and only slowly embraced women writers and the interests of 'average' Scots. Integrating historical fiction and popular histories in its appreciation of the Scottish historical imaginary, it most importantly tells the story of why, despite the interests of politicians and others, a truly British history has never emerged.
'A brilliant, scholarly yet highly readable work which enlarges our understanding of what Scottish history is, and reinforces why it really matters' - James Robertson
Reviews / Votes
'An exceptionally rich and original contribution to our understanding of the evolution of the historical discipline in modern Scotland . . . The book stands out for its importance to Scottish History as a field. It will be central to training and to scholarship for a generation and beyond' * Frank Watson Book Prize Jury Citation * 'the book is nothing less than an essential tool of biographical reference for anyone interested in Scottish history and those who have written about it in the last 200 years... a triumph of research and argument which looks sure to provoke discussion and debate for many years to come' -- Hector L. MacQueen * West Highland Notes and Queries * 'A brilliant, scholarly yet highly readable work which enlarges our understanding of what Scottish history is, and reinforces why it really matters' -- James Robertson 'This is an extraordinary book. Dr Macdonald has exposed to the light a range of historians who have been, completely undeservedly, forgotten ... presents a serious intellectual challenge to all of us who work in the field' -- Professor Ewen A. Cameron, University of Edinburgh 'A feat of herculean scholarship and staggering erudition. Catriona Macdonald's fascinating treatment of modern Scottish historiography covers ever angle: popular as well as academic histories, historical novels, local antiquarianism, publishing clubs, archives and libraries' -- Professor Colin Kidd, University of St AndrewsMore details
Edition
New in Paperback
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Birlinn General
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
8pp b/w plates
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 46 mm
Weight
704 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-85976-749-1 (9780859767491)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Catriona M.M. Macdonald was born in Glasgow, educated at the universities of St Andrews and Strathclyde, and is currently Reader in Late Modern History at the University of Glasgow. She is a former editor of the Scottish Historical Review, past president of the Scottish History Society and former Trustee, National Museums Scotland. Her book Whaur Extremes Meet was Saltire Scottish History Book of the Year, 2010.