Whaur Extremes Meet

This is a story of a country on the edge of Europe that was at the centre of European events, and a home to Empire builders in an age that came to scorn imperialism. Here we come to understand an economy which was a dominant influence on the industrial age but consequently suffered the most acute symptoms of its decline. In this society education was a cherished institution though much of the century was spent in its reform; tartan clad bride-grooms still stood at altars at the century's close though divorce increasingly stole the optimism of newly weds and single mothers grew in numbers outside school gates. Politically, the century is to be remembered as the deliverer of devolution, though for most of the time, nationalism was scarcely taken seriously. And as Scottish 'makars' reached an increasingly international audience, Catriona MacDonald points to the irony of native critics who called on Scotland's cultural ambassadors to more honestly reflect their roots rather than their aspirations, as if to do otherwise they betrayed some recognized yet unspoken 'cause'. This truly was a place where extremes met: Scotland was their expression, and its history was in their gift.
Whaur Extremes Meet is a major contribution to the literature on Scotland in the twentieth century.