To See Ourselves
A Personal History of Scotland Since 1950
Will be published approx. on 3. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-1-78027-978-7 (ISBN)
Description
Since 1945 the world has changed at breakneck speed, and life in post-war Scotland is now entirely different from what it was like when Alistair Moffat grew up in the quiet Border town of Kelso in the 1950s. At that time the rhythms and practicalities of daily life which had remained constant for many generations were about to change in the most unimaginable ways.
This is a book about these changes - many of which have been dizzying and disorientating - and how they have affected each and every one of us in all parts of the country. The main themes, such as housing, healthcare, sport, the media, the arts and entertainment, urban and country life, our relationship with the environment, politics, religion and education, are all viewed through the lens of personal experience. Alistair's own recollections of big events and small, together with other eyewitness accounts, bring these decades alive in a way that no ordinary history can with a directness and poignancy that underlines how much has been gained - and how much lost.
This is a book about these changes - many of which have been dizzying and disorientating - and how they have affected each and every one of us in all parts of the country. The main themes, such as housing, healthcare, sport, the media, the arts and entertainment, urban and country life, our relationship with the environment, politics, religion and education, are all viewed through the lens of personal experience. Alistair's own recollections of big events and small, together with other eyewitness accounts, bring these decades alive in a way that no ordinary history can with a directness and poignancy that underlines how much has been gained - and how much lost.
Reviews / Votes
'Filtering the last 75 years of Scottish history through the author's own experiences, this book gets the balance just right between capturing telling details and presenting the bigger picture' -- Roger Cox * The Scotsman * 'A relatable and enjoyable march through the decades, To See Ourselves: A Personal History of Scotland takes in everything from health, housing and education, to religion, sport, media and politics' -- Sally McDonald * Sunday Post * '[Moffat] writes engagingly and has a nice wry wit which allows him to see the ridiculous to the mundane' * Scottish Field * 'Analytical yet elegiac, objective yet personal... a hard book to categorise but an easy book to love. And while I'd like to see more Scottish history-memoir hybrids, I think I'd be hard pushed to find a more engaging one' * Books from Scotland * 'The gift desired by Robert Burns 'to see ourselves as other see us' is delivered comprehensively in this insightful book... a compelling social history - strongly recommended' * Country Life * 'a wonderful evocation of a changing Scotland over the past 75 years... a potted biography that takes personal events and themes and extends them outwards into the country at large in order to explore wider issues across Scotland' -- Ken Lussey * Undiscovered Scotland * 'An entertaining new history of post-war Scotland' -- David Black * Scottish Legal News *More details
Edition
New in Paperback
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Birlinn General
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
350 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78027-978-7 (9781780279787)
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
Alistair Moffat was born and bred in the Scottish Borders. A former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Director of Programmes at Scottish Television and founder of the Borders Book Festival, he is also the author of a number of highly acclaimed books. From 2011 he was Rector of the University of St Andrews. He has written more than thirty books on Scottish history, and lives in the Scottish Borders.