The Price of Scotland: Darien, Union and the Wealth of Nations

by Douglas Watt

The catastrophic failure of the Company of Scotland to establish a colony at Darien in Central America is one of the best known episodes in late 17th century Scottish history. The effort resulted in significant loss of life and money, and was a key issue in the negotiations that led to the Union of 1707.

What led so many Scots to invest such a vast part of the nation’s wealth in one company in 1696?

Why did a relatively poor nation think it could take on the powers of the day in world trade?

What was ‘The Price of Scotland’?

In this powerful and insightful study of the Company of Scotland, Douglas Watt offers a new perspective on the events that led to the creation of the United Kingdom.

Genres: History, Scotland, Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

I was born in Edinburgh in 1965 and grew up there and in Aberdeen. I have an MA and PhD in history from Edinburgh University.

I’m the author of a series of historical crime novels and a prize-winning account of Scotland’s Darien Disaster. I live in East Lothian and work as a financial writer.

I’ve loved Scottish History since reading John Prebble’s Glencoe as a teenager – the book brought the past alive for me. I’ve written six historical crime novels set in 17th century Scotland featuring investigative advocate John MacKenzie and his side-kick Davie Scougall. The books are first and foremost crime fictions but they are also journeys through the paradox of late 17th century Scotland – a time of witch hunting, religious fanaticism and blasphemy trials when the green shoots of the Scottish Enlightenment first appeared. I’m now writing the seventh book in the series.

I’m also the author of The Price of Scotland, a history of Scotland’s Darien Disaster which bankrupt the country and precipitated parliamentary Union with England in 1707. The book won the Hume Brown Senior Prize in Scottish History in 2008.

Reviews

[Melissa]

Read for my British history class. Very interesting, but a bit dry (even by a history books standards) as it often delves into the nitty gritty economic details and extended lists of people involved. Overall a well-written book on a piece of history largely forgotten--particularly in the United States.

[Martin Willoughby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit long winded in places, but interesting.