Why Scots Should Rule Scotland

Why Scots Should Rule Scotland

Author: Alasdair Gray

Publisher: Canongate Books

Published: 2014-02-20

Total Pages: 121

ISBN-13: 1782114327

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Alsadair Gray wrote the first edition of this book for the 1992 general election. In it he showed the poor state of present-day Scotland; gave a concise, elegant history of the Scottish people and their relations with the rulers of England; argued that Scotland should have a strong government elected by its own people. Five years later Scotland still does not have that and its state has worsened. The original chapters have been revised and largely rewritten. New chapters dealing with Scottish education, land owning, and law and the Labour Party bring the argument to date. This is a more openly political book than the first edition, written to persuade people who feel their vote does not much influence how their country is managed that Scottish independence matters, and that only one political party is honestly working to achieve it.


Independence

Independence

Author: Alasdair Gray

Publisher: Canongate Books

Published: 2014-06-12

Total Pages: 113

ISBN-13: 1782111735

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Gray argues that a truly independent Scotland will only ever exist when people in every home, school, croft, farm, workshop, factory, island, glen, town and city feel that they too are at the centre of the world. Independence asks whether widespread social welfare is more possible in small nations such as Norway and New Zealand than in big ones like Britain and the U.S.A. It describes the many differences between Scotland and England. It examines the people who choose to live north of the border. It shows Scotland's relevance to the rest of the world. It attempts to conjure a vision of how a Scots parliament might benefit the people of this small but dynamic nation. And it tells how democracy will only truly succeed when every person believes that their vote will make a difference.


How the Scots Invented the Modern World

How the Scots Invented the Modern World

Author: Arthur Herman

Publisher: Crown

Published: 2007-12-18

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 0307420957

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An exciting account of the origins of the modern world Who formed the first literate society? Who invented our modern ideas of democracy and free market capitalism? The Scots. As historian and author Arthur Herman reveals, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Scotland made crucial contributions to science, philosophy, literature, education, medicine, commerce, and politics—contributions that have formed and nurtured the modern West ever since. Herman has charted a fascinating journey across the centuries of Scottish history. Here is the untold story of how John Knox and the Church of Scotland laid the foundation for our modern idea of democracy; how the Scottish Enlightenment helped to inspire both the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution; and how thousands of Scottish immigrants left their homes to create the American frontier, the Australian outback, and the British Empire in India and Hong Kong. How the Scots Invented the Modern World reveals how Scottish genius for creating the basic ideas and institutions of modern life stamped the lives of a series of remarkable historical figures, from James Watt and Adam Smith to Andrew Carnegie and Arthur Conan Doyle, and how Scottish heroes continue to inspire our contemporary culture, from William “Braveheart” Wallace to James Bond. And no one who takes this incredible historical trek will ever view the Scots—or the modern West—in the same way again.


How We Should Rule Ourselves

How We Should Rule Ourselves

Author: Alasdair Gray

Publisher: Canongate Books

Published: 2014-02-13

Total Pages: 53

ISBN-13: 1782114408

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This pamphlet is for anyone alarmed by the present British government. It argues that the component nations of the United Kingdom can become true democracies only by declaring themselves republics. The authors are Alasdair Gray, writer of fiction and pamphlets such as Why Scots Should Rule Scotland, and Adam Tomkins, Professor of Public Law in the University of Glasgow and author of Public Law and Our Republican Constitution. Both are committed republicans.


Scottish Home Rule

Scottish Home Rule

Author: Ben Thomson

Publisher: Birlinn

Published: 2020-09-03

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 9781780276946

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Every debate about the Scottish constitution should include the topic of Scottish Home Rule, and if there is to be another referendum in Scotland then Home Rule should definitely be one of the options on the ballot paper. Home Rule is not widely understood being seen by many Unionists as the slippery slope to Independence and by Independence supporters as a Unionist proposal to retain sovereignty over Scotland. It is however a strong proposal in its own right with a separate history from Independence and a more likely stepping-stone to Federalism. This book is a much-needed statement for the merits of Scottish Home as the best solution for Scotland. It covers the history and support for the Home Rule option from 1860s, a clear structure for what Home Rule is and how Home Rule could improve both Scotland as well be a framework for constitutional reform across the UK.


Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

Author: John Lloyd

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-03-24

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 150954268X

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The Scottish nationalists seek to end the United Kingdom after 300 years of a successful union. Their drive for an independent Scotland is now nearer to success than it has ever been. Success would mean a diminished Britain and a perilously insecure Scotland. The nationalists have represented the three centuries of union with England as a malign and damaging association for Scotland. The European Union is held out as an alternative and a safeguard for Scotland's future. But the siren call of secession would lure Scotland into a state of radical instability, disrupting ties of work, commerce and kinship and impoverishing the economy. All this with no guarantee of growth in an EU now struggling with a downturn in most of its states and the increasing disaffection of many of its members. In this incisive and controversial book, journalist John Lloyd cuts through the rhetoric to show that the economic plans of the Scottish National Party are deeply unrealistic; the loss of a subsidy of as much as £10 billion a year from the Treasury would mean large-scale cuts, much deeper than those effected by Westminster; the broadly equal provision of health, social services, education and pensions across the UK would cease, leaving Scotland with the need to recreate many of these systems on its own; and the claim that Scotland would join the most successful of the world's small states - as Denmark, New Zealand and Norway - is no more than an aspiration with little prospect of success. The alternative to independence is clear: a strong devolution settlement and a joint reform of the British union to modernise the UK's age-old structures, reduce the centralisation of power and boost the ability of all Britain's nations and regions to support and unleash their creative and productive potential. Scotland has remained a nation in union with three other nations - England, Northern Ireland and Wales. It will continue as one, more securely in a familiar companionship.


The Myth of William Wallace

The Myth of William Wallace

Author: Susan Wallner

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2003-06-09

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13: 3898212696

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This book examines literary examples concerning William Wallace against the background of various historical sources and evaluates the construction, the changes, and the relevance of this Scottish national myth.For over 700 years, William Wallace has been fascinating people. What he achieved for his country is almost unbelievable. Already during his lifetime, Wallace's reputation must have been legendary. Over the centuries, a powerful myth has been created around his person, which was fostered by diverse writers, and even by Hollywood. There have been several periods throughout Scottish history when the interest in William Wallace intensified enormously, resulting in an increase of literary publications on the freedom fighter. These climaxes appeared whenever the Scots were dissatisfied with the English rule and brought the old animosity between England and Scotland to new life. These tensions caused many writers to revive memories of Wallace and his ideals by projecting the medieval story into their own time. Thus, more and more bits and pieces were added to the myth whose message seems to have had tremendous effects on the Scots. Wallace's unfulfilled quest of freeing Scotland even became an issue in several programs of political parties.With the release of the film "Braveheart" in the mid-1990s, the Wallace cult was reborn once more. Was it the prevailing political situation that stimulated such an overwhelming enthusiasm for William Wallace again? Did the Wallace myth influence the Devolution Movement? Is Wallace's spirit still alive today? Do the Scots still cherish what he fought for, and will they finally achieve his goal of a fully independent Scottish Nation? With regard to the current political situation, the author finds interesting answers to these questions and discusses the chances for a possible Scottish independence.


My Scotland, Our Britain

My Scotland, Our Britain

Author: Gordon Brown

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2014-06-19

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 1471137511

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My Scotland, Our Britain: A Future Worth Sharingis a highly personal account of Gordon Brown's Scotland, the nation he was born in, and our Britain, the multinational state that the Scots, English, Welsh and Northern Irish have created and share. Laying bare his family's ancestry over 300 years of the Union and explaining how it shaped his background, Brown charts what it was like growing up in Scotland in the 1950s and 1960s, and explains the influence of religion, education and Scotland's unique industrial structure on the shaping of his and Scotland's identity. He sets out the dramatic economic, social and cultural changes of the past fifty years and the vastly different prospects his children will face, demonstrating that a sense of Scottish national identity has always remained strong and how Scottish institutions have always fiercely guarded their independence. The referendum should not be seen as a battle between Scotland and Britain, he argues, but one between two visions of Scotland's future: one that sees Scotland prosper with a strong Scottish Parliament that is part of the UK, and one that severs all the political links Scots have with the UK. Brown puts forward his proposal for a constitutional settlement that could unite the country, and argues that in tune with Scotland's history of deep engagement with the wider world -as inventors, explorers, traders, missionaries, business leaders and aid workers -the best future for Scots is not to leave Britain, but to continue to shape it.


Poor Things

Poor Things

Author: Alasdair Gray

Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9781564783073

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One of Alasdair Gray's most brilliant creations, Poor Things is a postmodern revision of Frankenstein that replaces the traditional monster with Bella Baxter--a beautiful young erotomaniac brought back to life with the brain of an infant. Godwin Baxter's scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realized when he finds the drowned body of Bella, but his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless's jealous love for Baxter's creation.The hilarious tale of love and scandal that ensues would be "the whole story" in the hands of a lesser author (which in fact it is, for this account is actually written by Dr. McCandless). For Gray, though, this is only half the story, after which Bella (a.k.a. Victoria McCandless) has her own say in the matter.Satirizing the classic Victorian novel, Poor Things is a hilarious political allegory and a thought-provoking duel between the desires of men and the independence of women, from one of Scotland's most accomplished authors.


A Life In Pictures

A Life In Pictures

Author: Alasdair Gray

Publisher: Canongate Books

Published: 2010-10-22

Total Pages: 931

ISBN-13: 1847679625

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Alasdair Gray is Scotland's best known polymath. Born in 1934 in Glasgow, he graduated in design and mural art from the Glasgow School of Art in 1957. After decades of surviving by painting and writing TV and radio plays, his first novel, the loosely autobiographical, blackly fantastic Lanark, opened up new imaginative territory for such varied writers as Jonathan Coe, A.L. Kennedy, James Kelman, Janice Galloway and Irvine Welsh. It led Anthony Burgess to call him 'the most important Scottish writer since Sir Walter Scott'. His other published books include 1982 Janine, Poor Things (winner of the Whitbread Award), The Book of Prefaces, The Ends of our Tethers and Old Men in Love. In this book, with reproductions of his murals, portraits, landscapes and illustrations, Gray tells of his failures and successes which have led his pictures to be accepted by a new generation of visual artists.