Pocket Scottish History

by James A. MacKay

From the Mesolithic era to the 1997 referendum that restored the Scottish parliament, this compact volume offers a chronological overview of Scotlandâ€s history. The events, people and political changes that had a significant impact on the country are introduced in 150 illustrated entries, including the arrival of the Celts and clashes with Romans, Vikings and the English.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Scotland, Travel

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 6, 2002

About the author

Also credited as "James MacKay" or "James Alexander MacKay".

Dr. James Alexander MacKay was a prolific Scottish writer and philatelist whose reputation was damaged by a criminal conviction for theft and repeated accusations of plagiarism. In an obituary by John Holman, Editor of the British Philatelic Bulletin, Mackay was described as a "philatelic writer without equal". Mackay's output was broad.

Reviews

[David Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has sat on my shelf for decades... However, with COVID-19 and being trapped at home, I decided to pick it up and give it a read.
Surprisingly it was a lot better than I thought it would be. Typically these sort of books are a bit on the 'meh' side but this covered a broad spectrum of Scotlands history.

It's a wee bit dated in parts but worth a quick read. It does not go into too much detail but opens the reader to new topics that they can research themselves.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up in a second hand bookshop. Great little book. Just the right amount of information. I formative but not heavy going. Love the colour pictures, like the layout and the glossy paper. It's on the bookshelf.

[Deborah-Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed tracing the history of Scotland from the early mesolithic period up until today. It was fascinating to learn about the monarchical and religious history that shaped Scotland. A very easy to read book with pictures and bite sized chunks of information.

[Christopher Nilsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a person with quite a bit of Scottish heritage I found it interesting. Especially the origins of Scotland and how it became a nation through the union of Picts and Scots. The story of Kenneth MacAlpin was interesting. And of course William Wallace is awesome!!!!

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice size. Good for travel. Nicely concise and comprehensive but with good details. Written by a Scotsman so not from U.K. perspective which is refreshing.

[Ryan Hoyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly engrossing and complicated. I can’t imagine how much research this took

[Nina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too quick, too much, this is only readable if you already know a lot about Scottish history, but completely unsuitable for a beginner.

[Liutauras · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good WC book - the problem - in order to do it simple the author makes it shallow...

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keeping in mind it is a condensed history of Scotland, it's a great book. My favorite areas are the Neolithic period and the later histories, 1600 - present day. It's a country fraught with wars and battles, subjugation and injustice, corruption and confusion. It's history is not done yet. In fact, not until very recently did England consistently open their eyes to what they had done to their northern neighbor.

I have been reminded that a great part of history bores me because the Saxon nations had won so much of Europe, putting it all under German rule of one form or another. Hence, everybody is named Henry/James/George, with numerals attached. How droll.

However, it does inspire me to offer my support to a Free Scotland. Likely this movement is the strongest outside of the Lowlands, the cities closer to the English border. But the contract, if you will, that needs drawn up should be one that lets the country keep the profits from it's resources, keep the taxes within it's borders, allows it to be a sustainable entity, which it cannot be under the current bill.

[Pam Ela · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is obviously put together as cheaply as possible. Some of the illustrations were repeated several times in the book and the connection of the illustration to the text is tenuous. I found it confusing when people were referred to by title with no refernce to their generation so it became uncertain if it was the same person being referred to at different times or if it was a later inheritor of the title.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fair is fair, would not have bought it perhaps, but since I did pay attention during the trip I was so lucky of winning it. Great book.

[Thane Lawrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good little book which gives a very basic overview of Scottish history but if that's all you're looking for then it's not a bad starting place.

[Marita Gayoso]

Pocket book, 80 centuries of history in Scotland, entertaining reading. Sounds like a difficult task but the author balances successfully between these challenges to not overwhelm readers with the plethora of new names that need to be introduced.