The Scots and the Union

A masterly study, distinguished by painstaking research, broad and deep contextualisation, careful analysis and pellucid argument. * Alvin Jackson, University of Edinburgh *
Chris Whatley has changed the terms of debate on the making of the Union. Updated to take account of the forthcoming referendum on independence, Whatley’s classic is a vital corrective to the enduring myths associated with 1707. * Colin Kidd, University of St Andrews *
A major reinterpretation of the Union underpinned by a great deal of original research. -- Times Literary supplement * History: The Journal of the Historical Association *
The publication of this book marks an important historiographical development for a mature understanding and appreciation of the events and issues relating to the 1707 union. It can now be regarded as the leading work on 1707... Our understanding of 1707 has been taken to a new level. ... Whatley’s book should be compulsory reading for all MSPs and media commentators, irrespective of their own political party allegiances and viewpoints, and for anyone who has an interest in Scottish history. -- John R. Young * Scottish Review of Books *
An important and finely argued book. Everyone who seriously wants to understand how and why modern Scotland came into being should read it. * T. C. Smout, Historiographer Royal in Scotland *
Whatley’s careful research, spliced with fascinating detail, reveals the sophisticated politics used by these Scots and reclaims them as patriots. It is a magnificent study of the politics of the time. ... Whatley has done the history of the period a great service, stripping away the myths and revealing sophisticated people making sophisticated decisions. -- Ruaridh Nicoll * The Observer *
The book’s careful weighing of the evidence, standing back and thinking about the silences and the biases of the past, pays dividends. The Scots and the Union offers the most complete and nuanced account of the state of the Scottish economy in the period between the Revolution of 1688 and the Union of 1707... -- John Morrill FBA * Times Higher Education *
Scholarly, judicious and readable, The Scots and the Union convincingly demythologises the history of the event that was to change the course of Scottish history. Christopher Whatley’s account of the political world that gave birth to the Union will make uncomfortable reading for some. But it will provide many more with the sort of history they have been waiting for, for a very long time. For future historians, the history of the Union starts here. -- Nicholas Phillipson, School of History and Classics, Edinburgh University
This is an important and finely argued book. It brings an infusion of new evidence to bear on the old question of the causes of the Union of 1707. From it emerges a fresh interpretation of the birth of Great Britain, controversial but fairminded, solidly supported by scholarship. Everyone who seriously wants to understand how and why modern Scotland came into being should read it. -- T. C. Smout, Historiographer Royal in Scotland