Capital of the Mind: How Edinburgh Changed the World

by James Buchan

In the early 18th century, Edinburgh was a filthy backwater town synonymous with poverty and disease. Yet by century's end, it had become the marvel of modern Europe, home to the finest minds of the day and their breathtaking innovations in architecture, politics, science, the arts, and economies - all of which continues to echo loudly today. Adam Smith penned "The Wealth of Nations". James Boswell produced "The Life of Samuel Johnson". Alongside them, pioneers such as David Hume, Robert Burns, James Hutton, and Sir Walter Scott transformed the way we understand our perceptions and feelings, sickness and health, relations between the sexes, the natural world, and the purpose of existence.

James Buchan beautifully reconstructs the intimate geographic scale and boundless intellectual milieu of Enlightenment Edinburgh. With the scholarship of an historian and the elegance of a novelist, he tells the story of the triumph of this unlikely town and the men whose vision brought it into being.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Scotland, Philosophy, European History, British Literature

436 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

James Buchan is a Scottish novelist and historian who writes on aspects of the Scottish Enlightenment. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Reviews

[John Macdonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some strangely lukewarm reviews and ratings here. OK, if you've never heard of the persons or work of Adam Smith, Robert Burns, Adam Ferguson, David Hume and their ilk, and you don't know Edinburgh at all, then you might find it all whirls by a bit quickly, and takes some knowledge for granted. And if you're wanting completely exhaustive analysis of HOW Adam Smith (for example) has shaped the thought of the Western world, then you won't find it here. There isn't space - there was just too much going on in the Edinburgh of the time.

And then perhaps there are people who know, or reckon they know, everything about all these people and places. Obviously this is not long enough a book to add much to Burns scholarship, if that's been your life thus far. There may be disputable claims, too - this is, after all, history.

I must have known just enough (or little) about all these, and had enough of an interest in them, to find this a fascinating read, and enjoyable too. It's a favourite on my "read again periodically" shelf. Go on, give it a try.

[David Noack · Rating 5 out of 5]

IF you kind of know what you're going to find inside this book, then it is absolutely fascinating. But it requires some context about the period and the authors mentioned. I absolutely LOVE this book.

[Crissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read another book on the Scottish Enlightenment, I thought I was prepared for this. I am a Scot and I was born and brought up in Edinburgh, so most of the characters and the setting are very familiar to me. At times I did find the book difficult but the author writes with such knowledge and has such a good sense of humour, that I found myself pushing on to the end. I finished with a warm feeling that as a native I had benefited from the inheritence that makes this such an interesting city.

[Joris Gillet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Learned quite a bit about Edinburgh during the Scottish Enlightenment but it's not particularly an easy read. So. Many. Names. It's like the writer wanted to mention everyone who ever stepped a foot in the city. Very hard to see the bigger picture.

[Sarah]

Abandoned in first chapter. Assumed knowledge I didn’t have. Just too technical for me.

[Simon Dobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, although it's quite hard to keep all the names straight sometimes: the author tends to introduce characters in several places before really providing their backgrounds, which makes the narrative a little non-linear. The focus seems to be more on how Edinburgh changed rather than its effects on the wider world: the former are dealt with far more thoroughly than the latter. Having said all that, this is a great overview of the Scottish Enlightenment and its main protagonists,

[Manuel J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an interesting book about less well know facts about Scotland in the XVIII century. There is some kind of paradox in that the cultural resurgence came along with the definite loss of independence, in some way a compensation. And it's interesting to see how the scottish universities were one of the institutions that resulted from the movement. The book sometimes is obscure for non native readers because it uses "scottish" instead of plain english, mainly in citations.

[Adeptus Fringilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really interesting book about Edinburgh, people and history. There are way too many names mentioned to remember, most of which I never heard of. For somebody who lives in Edinburgh it was good to read about some of the places that still exist today. I will walk past them now with my head up and looking.
It took me some time to read this book, it wasn't easy to read for me.

[Bridget Weller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stuff in here, but hard to see that it would have much appeal unless you have a particular interest in Edinburgh. Some interesting tidbits for fans of Burns, Adam Smith, David Hume etc., but you would have to be a REAL fan to make anything other than an index-led flip worthwhile.