A New Race of Men (1815 – 1914)
Pages: 400
Reason Book was Chosen:
My wife and I travel to Scotland nearly every year. I love the place. It has the most rugged beauty I have ever seen. The history also fascinates me. Every time we go to Scotland, I see this set of three books by Michael Fry that each cover a time frame of Scottish history. I purchased some of the books and ordered the rest during my last trip to Scotland and can't wait to read them all in order this year.My Thoughts
This was the 3rd of 3 books I read this year about Scotland. A New Race of Men covered the years 1815 – 1914. This was an era of rapid industrialization, the Scottish Enlightenment, and the Highland Clearances. Here are some things I learned that stuck out to me:
- It’s not an accident that the Scottish Highlands contain few people. They were cleared off the land for a variety of reasons, opening up hunting ground for the English as one of those reasons.
- The Duke of Sutherland owned 1 million acres
- The Scottish Home Rule Association was the ancestor to the Scottish National Party
- Scotland’s population in 1800 was 1.6 million and in 1911 it was 4.8 million.
- The Presbyterians split roughly 50/50 in 1843 instead the Presbyterians and Free Church
- Queen Victoria loved Scotland (at least the idealized version)
- The Act of 1872 provided universal elementary education
