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Edinburgh: A History of the City
The late poet laureate, Sir John Betjeman, said that Edinburgh was the most beautiful city in Europe. Like some other great cities it is set on seven hills. But only one of these, Rome, rivals Edinburgh in matching the beauty of its setting with the stateliness of its buildings. Edinbrugh, too, provides the backdrop to much of the dark drama of the Scottish past, from Mary Queen of Scots to Bonnie Prince Charlie and beyond. Michael Fry, who has lived and worked there for nearly forty years, provides a compellingly readable account of this great city, from the earliest times to the present, balancing Edinburgh's cultural, political and social history, and painting a vivid portrait of a city - that like Stevenson's Dr Jekyll - is both dark and light, both dark and light, both 'Auld Reekie' and 'Athens of the North'. 'Impressive ... in the style of Peter Ackroyd's history of London' Magnus Linklator, Spectator 'No one interested in the history of Edinburgh, and indeed Scotland, should be without it' Allan Massie,Scotsman
456 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
26 people are currently reading
160 people want to read
About the author
Michael Fry
19 books4 followersLibrarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Michael Fry was educated at the universities of Oxford and Hamburg. He is the author of The Scottish Empire (2001), How the Scots Made America (2003) and Wild Scots: Four Hundred Years of Highland History (2005). He has also written numerous articles on modern Scottish history and several political pamphlets. He has contributed to most major Scottish and British newspapers and has been a weekly columnist for The Scotsman, The Herald and The Sunday Times.
Michael Fry was educated at the universities of Oxford and Hamburg. He is the author of The Scottish Empire (2001), How the Scots Made America (2003) and Wild Scots: Four Hundred Years of Highland History (2005). He has also written numerous articles on modern Scottish history and several political pamphlets. He has contributed to most major Scottish and British newspapers and has been a weekly columnist for The Scotsman, The Herald and The Sunday Times.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 18, 2017
Michael Fry's Edinburgh: A History of the City, as one might expect, begins with the city's ancient history (Stone and Bronze Ages) and proceeds through to the dawn of the 21st century. The book abounds in facts concerning people, locations, policies, events, etc. Thousands of facts presented in a time-ordered manner. What's lacking in Edinburgh is Fry's ability to effectively weave these facts together to tell an interesting, engaging story of a city's origins, development, successes, crises, and current state of affairs. Instead, fragments of anecdotal history are tossed about to the reader to consume with minimal context to show how they relate to one another and to the historical foundation of the city. Reading it was akin to reading Encyclopedia Britannica, which, incidentally, was first published in Edinburgh. While the facts are interesting and well-researched, they merely stand as "facts" rather than resulting is a compelling story of the city's history.
Furthermore, the quality of writing found in Edinburgh seems academic-oriented rather than targeted to a more pedestrian audience. The narrative flows disjointedly - jumping from one line of thought to another - and is replete with obtusely written sentences. Blame for this should not be shouldered by Fry, but rather the editor(s) of his work. A quality editor could have very easily improved the flow of the story being told.
I had two other disappointments with Edinburgh. First, the book lacks maps. I have never understood how any history of a place can be written without including maps? I'm not from Edinburgh, let alone from Scotland or the United Kingdom. While I have a sense of some locations in Edinburgh as a result of reading other histories, I was lost in Fry's narrative at many points because I did not know where he was at in the city. Lack of any maps seems to be a gross oversight. Second, Fry often interjected his own opinions concerning historical matters rather than letting the reader make his own conclusions. For instance, I found there to be an undertone of Catholic-bashing with no evidence presented as to why the Calvinist or Presbyterian faiths improved the overall condition of Edinburgh's (and Scotland's) citizens. This, however, could be the result of the poor weaving together of facts and dismal editing rather than a deliberate attempt by Fry to add in his own opinions.
Finally, do not expect to read Edinburgh quickly. As another reviewer comments, this book is very much a "slog" to get through. Disjointed facts, obtuse writing style, lack of flow, little depth, and continual editorializing make it a distracting and cumbersome book to read.
Furthermore, the quality of writing found in Edinburgh seems academic-oriented rather than targeted to a more pedestrian audience. The narrative flows disjointedly - jumping from one line of thought to another - and is replete with obtusely written sentences. Blame for this should not be shouldered by Fry, but rather the editor(s) of his work. A quality editor could have very easily improved the flow of the story being told.
I had two other disappointments with Edinburgh. First, the book lacks maps. I have never understood how any history of a place can be written without including maps? I'm not from Edinburgh, let alone from Scotland or the United Kingdom. While I have a sense of some locations in Edinburgh as a result of reading other histories, I was lost in Fry's narrative at many points because I did not know where he was at in the city. Lack of any maps seems to be a gross oversight. Second, Fry often interjected his own opinions concerning historical matters rather than letting the reader make his own conclusions. For instance, I found there to be an undertone of Catholic-bashing with no evidence presented as to why the Calvinist or Presbyterian faiths improved the overall condition of Edinburgh's (and Scotland's) citizens. This, however, could be the result of the poor weaving together of facts and dismal editing rather than a deliberate attempt by Fry to add in his own opinions.
Finally, do not expect to read Edinburgh quickly. As another reviewer comments, this book is very much a "slog" to get through. Disjointed facts, obtuse writing style, lack of flow, little depth, and continual editorializing make it a distracting and cumbersome book to read.
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October 5, 2020Only got 30pgs in and couldn't finish. Author is more focused on how many facts they can regurgitate rather than with any type of discernible narrative. Trying to continue would be a horrendous slog. No maps for a history of a city is a mind boggling decision. Also no clear introduction by the author with what their stated purpose is for writing this. What do they hope to convey? Rather, we just randomly jump into the 1700's with some geologists as a prelude to talking about the geological formation of the city and surrounding area...wonderful. Also, I'm sure there are better word choices than "niggardly" for the author to use...
May 24, 2014
Fry charts the development of the city from prehistoric times to the late 20th century. Along the way we get to meet the various famous sons and daughters of Auld Reekie as well as others who made the city their home. Comprehensive and interesting as it was, some of the sentences were a bit clunky but this did not detract from this great history of Edinburgh.
April 8, 2024
Interesting, but disappointing.
As others have said in their reviews:
. quite a slog - long, tedious at times. The first mention of the history of Edinburgh was on page 70, and up to the late medieval period it was more a history of Scotland than a history of Edinburgh;
. no maps;
. odd structure;
. so much information and so many tangents it detracted from the story of Edinburgh.
Some really interesting facts and stories, but by the end of the book I was still left somewhat wanting!
As others have said in their reviews:
. quite a slog - long, tedious at times. The first mention of the history of Edinburgh was on page 70, and up to the late medieval period it was more a history of Scotland than a history of Edinburgh;
. no maps;
. odd structure;
. so much information and so many tangents it detracted from the story of Edinburgh.
Some really interesting facts and stories, but by the end of the book I was still left somewhat wanting!
March 19, 2024
Not an easy read really but absolutely jam packed with Edinburgh history of all kinds. The stunning amount of information and stories which were dipped into made me feel the same fascination as reading about ancient Rome.
Probably more easy to read if you already know a bit about, the "precipitous city"
Probably more easy to read if you already know a bit about, the "precipitous city"
December 19, 2017
I enjoy Fry's work and I love Edinburgh so I looked forward to this, but ultimately I found it cursory and unsatisfying. Very little in it, either the facts or their interpretation, proved novel. Hopefully his Glasgow will be better.
December 8, 2020
Pure pish
hole big bag of pompous nonsense written by someone who's probably say in his pants counting his inheritance. Don't buy
hole big bag of pompous nonsense written by someone who's probably say in his pants counting his inheritance. Don't buy
November 6, 2024
Whilst enjoyable, there were parts where it went into too much detail and then parts that seemed skipped over almost completely!
March 20, 2015
I would describe this book as a tome, maybe Tome.
As others have said, it can be a struggle or a slog to get through. There are moments where the author's humor shines through, and his opinions are not deep below the surface on some things *coughwhatedinburghuniversitydidtogerogesquarecough* but, I'm glad I read it. I think it suffers from being written in PhDese making it a little more cumbersome for those of us holding undergrad degrees or below... and kept thinking 'wow, if he had a translator work on this - it would be a much quicker read'. Some here complain that he didn't go chronologically through the history of Edinburgh, but instead bounced around a little. I understand that complaint, but, I don't think he bounced around unintentionally or as much as others imply. I think starting each chapter with an anecdote, a glimpse at a person either of the era or who's story helped to define the coming chapter was powerful, I think it would've been too easy, and boring, for Fry to just go. OK. Chapter 1: 5000BC-1AD Chapter 2 1AD-900AD Chapter 3 900AD-1300AD... etc. C'mon, we read those history books in highschool.
I'm glad I did it, though I found it funny that I read Ulysses in less time than it took to read this (I didn't worry so much about 'getting' every page in Ulysses). I'll keep the book on hand for reference. I recommend the kindle version because I feel like I will be looking things up in this book for years to come - though the print edition does have an index, and it's sad that the Kindle edition doesn't have the photos. I have both, print was given to me for my birthday - 3 days before I found out I was moving here, to Edinburgh. The kindle edition I bought because the hardback is too bulky to carry around and I soon realized if I was going to get through this book, I needed it handy for doctor's waiting rooms, buses, idle times.
I am a terribly slow reader, and tend towards audiobooks for this reason, it took me a little under a year to get through it (Ulysses - 4 months) - reading in sections at a time - each chapter has smaller sections that range from 1-3 pages or so long. I freely admit, I put it down for spells when life got busy... and if I were tackling this again (maybe I'll start in Dec 2015, for fun, I will to see if I can get through it faster) - I would target about 1% on the kindle a day... as the notes and index start at 77% I figure it would take me just over 2 months. Maybe three counting possible missed days.
For now, my next 'with my eyes' book will be something that's just for fun - probably Matchmaker of Kenmare by Frank Delaney.
As others have said, it can be a struggle or a slog to get through. There are moments where the author's humor shines through, and his opinions are not deep below the surface on some things *coughwhatedinburghuniversitydidtogerogesquarecough* but, I'm glad I read it. I think it suffers from being written in PhDese making it a little more cumbersome for those of us holding undergrad degrees or below... and kept thinking 'wow, if he had a translator work on this - it would be a much quicker read'. Some here complain that he didn't go chronologically through the history of Edinburgh, but instead bounced around a little. I understand that complaint, but, I don't think he bounced around unintentionally or as much as others imply. I think starting each chapter with an anecdote, a glimpse at a person either of the era or who's story helped to define the coming chapter was powerful, I think it would've been too easy, and boring, for Fry to just go. OK. Chapter 1: 5000BC-1AD Chapter 2 1AD-900AD Chapter 3 900AD-1300AD... etc. C'mon, we read those history books in highschool.
I'm glad I did it, though I found it funny that I read Ulysses in less time than it took to read this (I didn't worry so much about 'getting' every page in Ulysses). I'll keep the book on hand for reference. I recommend the kindle version because I feel like I will be looking things up in this book for years to come - though the print edition does have an index, and it's sad that the Kindle edition doesn't have the photos. I have both, print was given to me for my birthday - 3 days before I found out I was moving here, to Edinburgh. The kindle edition I bought because the hardback is too bulky to carry around and I soon realized if I was going to get through this book, I needed it handy for doctor's waiting rooms, buses, idle times.
I am a terribly slow reader, and tend towards audiobooks for this reason, it took me a little under a year to get through it (Ulysses - 4 months) - reading in sections at a time - each chapter has smaller sections that range from 1-3 pages or so long. I freely admit, I put it down for spells when life got busy... and if I were tackling this again (maybe I'll start in Dec 2015, for fun, I will to see if I can get through it faster) - I would target about 1% on the kindle a day... as the notes and index start at 77% I figure it would take me just over 2 months. Maybe three counting possible missed days.
For now, my next 'with my eyes' book will be something that's just for fun - probably Matchmaker of Kenmare by Frank Delaney.
May 10, 2012
Two stars feels harsh. This history of Scotland’s capital isn’t terrible. But Goodreads asks us to judge a book by how much we “like” it. And while Michael Fry’s vast knowledge of Edinburgh is certainly impressive, I can’t claim to have enjoyed the way he shares it with us here.
There’s just too much going on. We’re bombarded by facts. All Scotland’s big hitters feature: Robert the Bruce, John Knox, Mary Queen of Scots, King James VI. Key figures like David Hume, the philosopher, and James Hutton, the “father of geology”, make an appearance. But while quotes and anecdotes from every possible era of Edinburgh’s history abound, too much of it is dealt with briskly, and too little of it comes to life. The result is a slog. I found it all a bit hard going; at times, very hard going.
“A very fine book and a considerable achievement,” runs a quote on the back of my copy. I guess that’s fair, up to a point. “Edinburgh” is thorough, wide-ranging and well-researched. But it’s not particularly well written. It’s not particularly memorable. And for this newcomer to Scottish history, at least, reading it wasn’t much fun.
There’s just too much going on. We’re bombarded by facts. All Scotland’s big hitters feature: Robert the Bruce, John Knox, Mary Queen of Scots, King James VI. Key figures like David Hume, the philosopher, and James Hutton, the “father of geology”, make an appearance. But while quotes and anecdotes from every possible era of Edinburgh’s history abound, too much of it is dealt with briskly, and too little of it comes to life. The result is a slog. I found it all a bit hard going; at times, very hard going.
“A very fine book and a considerable achievement,” runs a quote on the back of my copy. I guess that’s fair, up to a point. “Edinburgh” is thorough, wide-ranging and well-researched. But it’s not particularly well written. It’s not particularly memorable. And for this newcomer to Scottish history, at least, reading it wasn’t much fun.
December 6, 2017
I bought this for research purposes. Edinburgh is a city I know very well and love with a passion, so I've been wanting to set a book here for ages. Maybe I bought the wrong book, but like other reviewers, I found this one really far too disjointed, overly stuffed with facts and anecdotes that were not connected up. Fry's knowledge is impressive even if it does come over a little blandly, but he wanders about too much through the city's history without giving us enough context - or dates! Not even the chapters are sub-headed with dates, so finding anything in chronological order is quite difficult.
Don't get me wrong, this is a fun read and it has lots of interesting stuff in it, but it was a wee bit too chaotic, it took the idea of social history a bit too far for me, and was ultimately not what I needed - but as I said, maybe that was my fault.
Don't get me wrong, this is a fun read and it has lots of interesting stuff in it, but it was a wee bit too chaotic, it took the idea of social history a bit too far for me, and was ultimately not what I needed - but as I said, maybe that was my fault.
May 29, 2016
Michael Fry's Edinburgh was ultimately a bit of a slog, though I enjoyed his sometimes engaging anecdotes and quicker changes of topics. I thought his style suited almost bite sized chunks of information more than in depth accounts, and some of the longer, more explanatory sections dragged like there was no tomorrow. I greatly missed maps; there are several lovely maps of Edinburgh from various eras as well as great opportunity for more in the way of naming suburbs and neighborhoods. It was only because I have lived in Edinburgh for the past three years that I could place most of the names he dropped. Without that background I would have gotten much less out of this book.
February 24, 2015
Although I found the information interesting and the chronological focus useful I found the linguistic style very hard at times. His syntax was incorrect on occasion and a few historical details such as the name of Edwards seconds wife it was Isabel not the name he used Philipa was his daughter in law, if I remember. A few other things jarred as well. I also thought the first half of teh book was better as he neared the modern day it was as if he had got bored and filled out the details. Not the best introduction to the history of the city city
December 17, 2013
An excellent account of the history of the city, providing lots of interesting details on events, people and places in town that link to a huge number of additional books, activities and exhibitions in Edinburgh and beyond. Currently going through the truly inspiring chapters devoted to the Scottish Enlightenment (the famous quotation "never was so much owed by so many to so few" comes to mind here), probably the town's Golden Times. I'm really enjoying this book.
October 18, 2015
Lots of great stories and insights into Edinburgh's history, that bring alive the past of the city. The author however assumes that the reader knows Scottish history and its central characters, he does not give much background on those. The structure is more a collection of stories than a chronology.
July 16, 2012
This is a good history of Edinburgh as far as the facts go but it needed some livening up. It is at its best when the author uses a little humor. It is a good starting point to learn more about the city.
December 4, 2012
Another book for which it would be useful to have half stars. It's not a bad book per se and there are a spots of really interesting factoids and bits of local colour included. Sadly, the total lack of organisation & focus make it difficult to read. I wouldn't recommend it.
May 29, 2012
I have to say I expected a little more from this book. I felt that the image of the history of Edinburgh was left a little bit sketchy.
December 31, 2018
I expected to enjoy this but the star of the show is the author's knowledge not my favourite city.
Want to read
April 14, 2013I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11831694
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11831694
October 5, 2015
It was just too detailed for me and I gave up half way through.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews