The Transformation of Rural Scotland: Social Change and the Agrarian Economy, 1660-1815

by T.M. Devine

In the later decades of the 17th century, Scotland was a relatively poor and undeveloped country. Around 100 years later it was in the throes of an extraordicnary transformation, which laid the basis for the nation's world economic pre-eminence in the Victorian era. Two aspects of this great leap forward, the Industrial Revolution and the Highland Clearances have been much studied. This is a study of a fundamental development, of the transition from peasant to capitalist agriculture. It covers the social change in Scotland through a wide range of issues including agrarian economy, evolution of tenant farming and landlordism.

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Sir Thomas Martin Devine, Kt OBE FBA FRSE HonMRIA FRHistS FSA Scot, is a Scottish academic historian. Devine's main research interest is the history of the Scottish nation since c. 1600 and its global connections and impact. He is regarded as the leading authority on the history of modern Scotland.

He is the author or editor of some three dozen books and close to 100 articles on topics as diverse as emigration, famine, identity, Scottish transatlantic commercial links, urban history, the economic history of Scotland, Empire, the Scottish Highlands, the Irish in Scotland, sectarianism, stability and protest in the 18th century Lowlands, Scottish elites, the Anglo-Scottish Union, rural social history, Caribbean slavery and Scotland, the global impact of the Scottish people and comparative Irish and Scottish relationships. The Scottish Nation (1999) became an international best-seller, and for a short period even outsold in Scotland the adventures of Harry Potter when first published. In 2013 the volume was listed first in the '100 Best Books to Build a Better Scotland' compiled by ListMuse.com.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Devine