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Glasgow: A New History
Scotland's largest city has always been one of the most vibrant, varied and fascinating places in the country. This new history of Glasgow begins with the river, for the Clyde made the city flourish. From prehistory to the Romans, to Mungo and the kingdom of Strathclyde, it's a rich, quirky and moving story that remembers the foundation of the burgh by the bishops and moves rapidly to the Union of 1707, when Edinburgh lost a parliament and Glasgow gained access to an empire and business boomed.
Immigrants began to Highlanders, Irish families fleeing the famine, Jews fleeing persecution and lately Asians who transformed tastes. Britain's favourite dish, chicken tikka masala, was invented in the city. Football, architecture, heavy industry, politics and a distinctive sense of humour are all celebrated. Glasgow has never hesitated to reinvent itself – because its greatest resource has always been its people.
They belong to Glasgow and Glasgow belongs to them. This is their story.
Immigrants began to Highlanders, Irish families fleeing the famine, Jews fleeing persecution and lately Asians who transformed tastes. Britain's favourite dish, chicken tikka masala, was invented in the city. Football, architecture, heavy industry, politics and a distinctive sense of humour are all celebrated. Glasgow has never hesitated to reinvent itself – because its greatest resource has always been its people.
They belong to Glasgow and Glasgow belongs to them. This is their story.
- GenresHistory
226 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 4, 2025
3 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Alistair Moffat
58 books211 followersAlistair Moffat is an award winning writer, historian and former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Director of Programmes at Scottish Television.
Moffat was educated at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 1972 with a degree in Medieval History. He is the founder of the Borders Book Festival and Co-Chairman of The Great Tapestry of Scotland.
Moffat was educated at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 1972 with a degree in Medieval History. He is the founder of the Borders Book Festival and Co-Chairman of The Great Tapestry of Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 29, 2025
I liked this book, very interesting with facts and figures I never knew about, the book is how ever quite short and I feel a lot more could have been written about the dear green place, still it was to the point and being Glaswegion I felt the pride.
October 18, 2025
This book review is dedicated to my Mother Elizabeth Barker with whom I visited the great city of Glasgow with two years ago. We did it as part of a tradition to take the opportunity to reconnect with each other each year while visiting a UK city. Mum, I loved our travels and our chats and laughs on them. After my daughter is born I hope to enjoy shared travels with her around the UK too. Our travels reminded me that while we live in a sometimes unhappy country, there is always something not too far away that is worth seeing in it.
I have finished reading “Glasgow: A New History” by Alistair Moffat.
Glasgow has a unique history and many Glaswegians have a strong sense of identity linked to the ever-changing city. The author has a unique approach to introducing the reader to Glasgow, it’s people and it’s history by showing these through small episodic chapters. These are broadly in chronological order and cover important historical (including very early geological and Medieval history), cultural and social aspects about Glasgow.
Glasgow grew from Glasgow Cathedral, but it’s lifeline has long been the River Clyde which became one of the biggest sites for shipbuilding in the world. The loss of the American colonies led to Glasgow following the fortunes of colonial trade to the point where it became a major hub for it. So central did it become to trade in the British Empire that it called itself the “Second City of Empire”, with this era of grandeur reflected in city centre streets lined with large sandstone buildings which are now used a filming backdrops for recreating downtown New York. Great wealth was brought in via colonial trade and local industry, leading to some of those who have made a fortune through them to donate philanthropic works to the city, such as the Burrell Collection. However, a side effect of this was the building up of one of some of the most densely populated housing conditions in Europe as well as some of it’s worst slum areas.
Glasgow has long been known for it’s diverse and often surprising cultural scene. It is little known that in the 1930s it had one of the highest concentration of cinemas in Europe. It also had multiple music scenes including a lively Folk scene, from which arguably the most famous Glaswegian emerged; Billy Connolly.
Sometimes, I take a walk on the wild side and deviate from my reading schedule to read something I just saw a day or so before. I just happed to see this new history of Glasgow at my local Waterstones bookshop and decided from there to give it a chance. I have occasionally done this before and have not been that well rewarded. However, this time I can confirm that this book was worth the detour. It is very readable. While the book’s chapters are very short, they are engaging, unique and refreshingly varied. In one chapter you will be reading about football and then in the next you may be reading about Glasgow’s history of gang crime, to only find something more light hearted later on. Sometimes, the historical chapters are told through the perspective of a particular character, such as someone who as a little girl experienced her house being destroyed during the Glasgow Blitz.
There were only a few moments where I felt short changed. There seemed to be no mention of the noteworthy accomplishments of scientists based around the universities of Glasgow. I have also seen ship building and industry described more vividly and detailed in the fantastic book “Extreme Economies” by Richard Davies, than in this book. I did find the author’s humour in the book genuinely funny, and I appreciated his efforts to infuse the book with the personalities of regular Glaswegians and their humour. However, I did find the last chapter a little too self-indulgent and uninteresting, which is a shame because the book has a strong start.
Those thinking of visiting Glasgow, just do it. You could spend a week there and still not see everything.
I have finished reading “Glasgow: A New History” by Alistair Moffat.
Glasgow has a unique history and many Glaswegians have a strong sense of identity linked to the ever-changing city. The author has a unique approach to introducing the reader to Glasgow, it’s people and it’s history by showing these through small episodic chapters. These are broadly in chronological order and cover important historical (including very early geological and Medieval history), cultural and social aspects about Glasgow.
Glasgow grew from Glasgow Cathedral, but it’s lifeline has long been the River Clyde which became one of the biggest sites for shipbuilding in the world. The loss of the American colonies led to Glasgow following the fortunes of colonial trade to the point where it became a major hub for it. So central did it become to trade in the British Empire that it called itself the “Second City of Empire”, with this era of grandeur reflected in city centre streets lined with large sandstone buildings which are now used a filming backdrops for recreating downtown New York. Great wealth was brought in via colonial trade and local industry, leading to some of those who have made a fortune through them to donate philanthropic works to the city, such as the Burrell Collection. However, a side effect of this was the building up of one of some of the most densely populated housing conditions in Europe as well as some of it’s worst slum areas.
Glasgow has long been known for it’s diverse and often surprising cultural scene. It is little known that in the 1930s it had one of the highest concentration of cinemas in Europe. It also had multiple music scenes including a lively Folk scene, from which arguably the most famous Glaswegian emerged; Billy Connolly.
Sometimes, I take a walk on the wild side and deviate from my reading schedule to read something I just saw a day or so before. I just happed to see this new history of Glasgow at my local Waterstones bookshop and decided from there to give it a chance. I have occasionally done this before and have not been that well rewarded. However, this time I can confirm that this book was worth the detour. It is very readable. While the book’s chapters are very short, they are engaging, unique and refreshingly varied. In one chapter you will be reading about football and then in the next you may be reading about Glasgow’s history of gang crime, to only find something more light hearted later on. Sometimes, the historical chapters are told through the perspective of a particular character, such as someone who as a little girl experienced her house being destroyed during the Glasgow Blitz.
There were only a few moments where I felt short changed. There seemed to be no mention of the noteworthy accomplishments of scientists based around the universities of Glasgow. I have also seen ship building and industry described more vividly and detailed in the fantastic book “Extreme Economies” by Richard Davies, than in this book. I did find the author’s humour in the book genuinely funny, and I appreciated his efforts to infuse the book with the personalities of regular Glaswegians and their humour. However, I did find the last chapter a little too self-indulgent and uninteresting, which is a shame because the book has a strong start.
Those thinking of visiting Glasgow, just do it. You could spend a week there and still not see everything.
November 7, 2025
I have long admired Alistair Moffat, but, sadly this book was a disappointment.
I was not sure what the author was trying to achieve, but I found that the very short chapters made for a superficial account of the city, and whilst he followed a chronological order to some extent, it was quite a scattergun approach. I also found the pithy comments at the end of some chapters irritating.
Having said that, there were some interesting nuggets, such as the Cochno Stone.
I was not sure what the author was trying to achieve, but I found that the very short chapters made for a superficial account of the city, and whilst he followed a chronological order to some extent, it was quite a scattergun approach. I also found the pithy comments at the end of some chapters irritating.
Having said that, there were some interesting nuggets, such as the Cochno Stone.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews