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Building Modern Scotland: A Social and Architectural History of the New Towns, 1947–1997
240 pages, Paperback
Published March 5, 2026
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 31, 2026
I really think this is an important book to have been written.
Slight downfall - a lot of what is being described is quite visual; both architecture and town planning. And although there are a lot of pictures in the book, there are never enough. Lots of references to buildings, town maps and layouts, and imagination isn't quite enough to visualize. It probably didn't help that I neither live in one of the towns, nor lived there during their initial years, so couldn't visualize from memory or having seen things over the years of living there.
Short of having QR codes to more web based visuals (stills or videos) I'm not sure what could have been done.
The second half of the book digs deeper into social studies around these established communities, which is much easier to follow without visuals.
Overall, a really good read, even if I can't give it 5 stars.
Slight downfall - a lot of what is being described is quite visual; both architecture and town planning. And although there are a lot of pictures in the book, there are never enough. Lots of references to buildings, town maps and layouts, and imagination isn't quite enough to visualize. It probably didn't help that I neither live in one of the towns, nor lived there during their initial years, so couldn't visualize from memory or having seen things over the years of living there.
Short of having QR codes to more web based visuals (stills or videos) I'm not sure what could have been done.
The second half of the book digs deeper into social studies around these established communities, which is much easier to follow without visuals.
Overall, a really good read, even if I can't give it 5 stars.
Displaying 1 of 1 review