Scotland: The Story of a Nation

Scotland: The Story of a Nation
by Magnus Magnusson, Magnus Magnasson

Scotland: The Story of a Nation
List Price: $40.00
Our Price: $15.71
You Save: $24.29 (61%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.31 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Magnus Magnasson, Magnus Magnusson
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-09-02
ISBN: 0871137984
Number of pages: 734
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press

Book Reviews of Scotland: The Story of a Nation

Book Review: WONDERFUL BOOK ON SCOTLAND.........
Summary: 5 Stars

BEING FROM A LONG LINE OF SCOTS, I WAS INTERESTED IN KNOWING MORE
ABOUT THE COUNTRY OF MY FAMILY. MR. MAGNUSSON HAS DONE A WORDERFUL JOB OF EDUCATING ME ON THE ENTIRE INTERESTING HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. YOU NEED TO ENJOY HISTORY TO GET THE FULL ENJOYMENT FROM THIS BOOK, BECAUSE IT IS FULL OF NAMES, DATES, AND PLACES IMPORTANT TO SCOTLAND'S STORY. IT IS LIKE A TOUR OF
OLD SCOTLAND WITH A GUIDE WHO SEEMS TO KNOW ALL THE BEST PLACES TO SEE AND THE LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT THE DIFFERENT EVENTS AND
PEOPLE INVOLVED WITH THE MAKING SCOTLAND GREAT.

MANY PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW JUST HOW IMPORTANT SCOTLAND WAS AND IS IN THE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD. THIS IS A VERY COLORFUL COUNTRY AND THIS
BOOK ALLOWS YOU TO SEE ALL THE COLOR AND GRANDUR OF IT'S HISTORY
AND IMPORTANCE IN MAN'S QUEST FOR FREEDOM.

I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ALL WHO LOVE FREEDOM AND COLORFUL HISTORY.

Summary of Scotland: The Story of a Nation

Drawing on a great deal of modern scholarship that has redefined the nation's story, Magnus Magnusson vividly re-creates the fascinating history of Scotland, offering the most up-to-date and comprehensive history available today. Magnusson, who received an honorary knighthood for his contributions to the preservation of Scotland's heritage, casts the nation's historical trajectory as a long struggle toward nationhood. He explains the roots of the original Scots and examines the extent to which Scotland was shaped by the Romans, the Picts, the Vikings, and the English. He casts a sober eye on the many deep-seated myths that have developed over the years, assessing their sometimes-questionable credibility while still fully appreciating their importance to the people of Scotland. In addition to this cultural history, Magnusson offers a detailed account of the political and economic forces that shaped the nation's fate. Packed with colorful stories, bloody battles, vicious political intrigues, and a rich pageant of historical characters, it is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of this fascinating land.
Near Stirling, Scotland, stands a memorial to the warrior William Wallace, put to death at the orders of the English king Edward I in 1305. Within that memorial stands a glass case, and inside of it stands a broadsword 1.7 meters long. Legend has it that the hero himself wielded the weapon, and so "Wallace's Sword" it is.

Magnus Magnusson, a native of Iceland who has long lived in and written about Scotland, may spoil it for some readers when he writes that Wallace's Sword probably wasn't Wallace's. To use it, Wallace would have had to have stood at least 6-foot-6 in height and to have lived two centuries later. The business of the sword is just one of the "cherished conceptions" about Scottish history that Magnusson picks apart and then, corrected and improved, restores. At other turns he considers the true identity of the legendary king Macbeth (and entertains some surprising but plausible theories about the king's alter ego); reconstructs decisive battles such as Otterburn, Flodden, and Glencoe; and looks closely at the complicated negotiations (and, many would say, treacheries) that led to the union with England of 1707. Magnusson closes with an account of modern independence movements and the recent return of some measure of national autonomy, opening a "new chapter in a nation's story, which the people of Scotland are now beginning to write."

Lucid, witty, and unafraid of controversy, Magnusson's book does a fine job of condensing a complex history, stretching out for 10 millennia, into a single volume. --Gregory McNamee

England Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in England Books
King Edward VIII: The Official Biography ImageKing Edward VIII: The Official Biography
by Philip Ziegler
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd; Published: 1990-09-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $26.18
Court Lady and Country Wife: Two Noble Sisters in Seventeenth-Century England ImageCourt Lady and Country Wife: Two Noble Sisters in Seventeenth-Century England
by Lita-Rose Betcherman
HarperCollins Canada; Published: 2005-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.72
Price in other shops: $36.95
Read My Heart: A Love Story in the Age of Revolution ImageRead My Heart: A Love Story in the Age of Revolution
by Jane Dunn
Harpercollins Canada; Published: 2008-10-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.94
Price in other shops: $29.95
No Graves As Yet (World War One Novels) ImageNo Graves As Yet (World War One Novels)
by Anne Perry
Ballantine Books; Published: 2004-08-31; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.88
Price in other shops: $7.50
The Oxford History of Britain ImageThe Oxford History of Britain
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2010-06-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops: $18.95
The Nature of Monsters ImageThe Nature of Monsters
by Clare Clark
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Published: 2007-05-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $25.00
Selkirk's Island: The True and Strange Adventures of the Real Robinson Crusoe ImageSelkirk's Island: The True and Strange Adventures of the Real Robinson Crusoe
by Diana Souhami
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Published: 2002-02-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.86
Price in other shops: $30.00
The Great Hunger: Ireland: 1845-1849 ImageThe Great Hunger: Ireland: 1845-1849
by Cecil Woodham-Smith
Penguin Group; Published: 1992-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.22
Price in other shops: $18.00
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters ImageThe Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters
by Charlotte Mosley
Harper; Published: 2007-11-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Professor and the Madman ImageThe Professor and the Madman
by Simon Winchester
Harper; Published: 1998-08-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops: $23.00
Similar Books and other products
A History of Wales ImageA History of Wales
by John Davies
Viking Adult; Published: 1994-01-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.47
Price in other shops: $34.95
Frommer's 25 Great Drives in Scotland (Best Loved Driving Tours) ImageFrommer's 25 Great Drives in Scotland (Best Loved Driving Tours)
by British Auto Association, David Williams
Frommers; Published: 2011-02-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.76
Price in other shops: $19.99
Scotland (Eyewitness Travel Guides) ImageScotland (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
by Juliet Clough, Keith Davidson, Sandie Randall, Alastair Scott
DK Travel; Published: 2010-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.56
Price in other shops: $25.00
A History of Scotland (Penguin History) ImageA History of Scotland (Penguin History)
by J. D. Mackie
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1984-08-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.88
Price in other shops: $18.00
The Bruce Trilogy: A Superb Trilogy About Scotland's Greatest Hero (Coronet Books) ImageThe Bruce Trilogy: A Superb Trilogy About Scotland's Greatest Hero (Coronet Books)
by Nigel Tranter
Hodder & Stoughton; Published: 1985-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.03
Price in other shops: $24.95
A History of Scotland ImageA History of Scotland
WHV; Release date: 2010-08-17; DVD
Best price: $42.55
Price in other shops: $59.98
How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It ImageHow the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It
by Arthur Herman
Crown; Published: 2001-11-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.55
Price in other shops: $26.95
How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It ImageHow the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It
by Arthur Herman
Broadway; Published: 2002-09-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.74
Price in other shops: $16.00
Scotland: The Autobiography2,000 Years of Scottish History By Those Who Saw It Happen ImageScotland: The Autobiography2,000 Years of Scottish History By Those Who Saw It Happen
by Rosemary Goring
Overlook Hardcover; Published: 2008-07-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.90
Price in other shops: $35.00
Scotland: A Concise History, Second Revised Edition ImageScotland: A Concise History, Second Revised Edition
by Fitzroy Maclean
Thames & Hudson; Published: 2000; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.18
Price in other shops: $19.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories