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To the Ends of the Earth: Scotland's Global Diaspora, 1750 - 2010
The Scots are one of the world's greatest nations of emigrants. For centuries, untold numbers of men, women, and children have sought their fortunes in every conceivable walk of life and in every imaginable climate. All over the British Empire, the United States, and elsewhere, the Scottish contribution to the development of the modern world has been a formidable one, from finance to industry, philosophy to politics.
To the Ends of the Earth puts this extraordinary epic center stage, taking many famous stories--from the Highland Clearances and emigration to the Scottish Enlightenment and empire--and removing layers of myth and sentiment to reveal the no-less-startling truth. Whether in the creation of great cities or prairie farms, the Scottish element always left a distinctive trace, and Devine pays particular attention to the exceptional Scottish role as traders, missionaries, and soldiers.
This major new book is also a study of the impact of the global world on Scotland itself and the degree to which the Scottish economy was for many years an imperial economy, with intimate, important links through shipping, engineering, jute, and banking to the most remote of settlements.
Filled with fascinating stories and an acute awareness of the poverty and social inequality that provoked so much emigration, To the Ends of the Earth will make its readers think about the world in a quite different way.
To the Ends of the Earth puts this extraordinary epic center stage, taking many famous stories--from the Highland Clearances and emigration to the Scottish Enlightenment and empire--and removing layers of myth and sentiment to reveal the no-less-startling truth. Whether in the creation of great cities or prairie farms, the Scottish element always left a distinctive trace, and Devine pays particular attention to the exceptional Scottish role as traders, missionaries, and soldiers.
This major new book is also a study of the impact of the global world on Scotland itself and the degree to which the Scottish economy was for many years an imperial economy, with intimate, important links through shipping, engineering, jute, and banking to the most remote of settlements.
Filled with fascinating stories and an acute awareness of the poverty and social inequality that provoked so much emigration, To the Ends of the Earth will make its readers think about the world in a quite different way.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
About the author
T.M. Devine
43 books61 followersSir 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 1, 2018
The title of this book is somewhat misleading. Although there are a few chapters detailing the history of Scottish emigration, its sheer volume and the most affected destinations, I would say that most of this book is about Scotland's place in the British Empire. Devine devotes much more time to the contributions made to empire by Scottish industry, financiers, educators and the like which obviously is closely linked to emigration, but the angle of approach is not what was expected.
That said, the book is exceptionally well researched and you can tell from the sheer list of notes, bibliographies and references that Devine has expended a great deal of effort in ensuring the accuracy of his words. It is a shame then, that so many of those words seem to be a repetition of previous statements made in earlier chapters. The volume of emigration is hammered home constantly, most preferred countries and the impact on Scotland at home. I feel like I got the gist of the book in the first half and it could happily have ended there. Thats not to say the second half didn't have some interesting anecdotes and facts but these were mixed in among points that had already been made.
All in all, it does make a good account of Scotland during the time of empire so it shouldn't be discounted entirely because of the aforementioned points. Just know what you are signing up for when you start.
That said, the book is exceptionally well researched and you can tell from the sheer list of notes, bibliographies and references that Devine has expended a great deal of effort in ensuring the accuracy of his words. It is a shame then, that so many of those words seem to be a repetition of previous statements made in earlier chapters. The volume of emigration is hammered home constantly, most preferred countries and the impact on Scotland at home. I feel like I got the gist of the book in the first half and it could happily have ended there. Thats not to say the second half didn't have some interesting anecdotes and facts but these were mixed in among points that had already been made.
All in all, it does make a good account of Scotland during the time of empire so it shouldn't be discounted entirely because of the aforementioned points. Just know what you are signing up for when you start.
November 15, 2014
Very well researched, and well thought out, but written somewhat like a sociology textbook, so a little bit of a tough slog to get through. One of the big pluses was that Devine did a better job than most of drawing the line between the text and the notes. I rarely felt any need to reference the notes, and when I did, I could see why he didn't include the add'l info in the text. The information presented was really interesting, and the conclusions drawn seem relevant. It gave me a much better appreciation of the contributions made by Scots to spreading the Enlightenment ideas throughout the world.
June 26, 2016
I enjoyed this book for the most part. Devine's writing style is clear and he's done tons of research. Sometimes we have different focuses of interests so he shies away from the topics that interest me the most (he really only talks about women's contributions when discussing missionaries, which is missing a whole breadth of Scottish women's contributions and seems a glaring error to me.) Otherwise, very informative and enjoyable!
April 18, 2013
I don't readily award 5 stars, and history is a contentious subject at that. But I revelled in Devine's no-blushes-spared debunking of all the myths, guff and garbage that surrounds Scotland, its history and its diaspora. A refreshing eye-opener, whichever way you look at it. Strongly recommended.
April 23, 2024
Having previously read and enjoyed - and reviewed herein - Devine's excellent book on The Scottish Clearances, on a trip to the UK last year I picked this book, which is another in Devine's "historical trilogy" on the Scottish nation and it's global impact. While it held some interest for me from a family history/genealogical perspective, I read it mostly based on my enjoyment of other Devine works.
This book focuses on the methods and effects- both within Scotland and globally - of Scotland's remarkably massive emigrant community, from the mid-18th century until the beginning of the 21st. By any measure, Scotland produced a massive diaspora relative to its population - a diaspora that has long been though to have "punched above its weight" in global affairs. Devine does a deep and comparative study of the diaspora over centuries and around the world. The book supports some popular conclusions, but many others don't hold up to scrutiny.
Like his other work, the book is wide-ranging and deep - examining the diaspora by segment (trade, military, and so forth); chronology; and locale (both within and outside of the British Empire) - and requires careful reading. While the prose itself is approachable to a amateur and the book comprises fewer than 300 pages, it is most certainly NOT a popular history - it's academic in nature.
Devine provides exhaustive data in-line within the text, generally carefully and clearly tabulated, and further supports his assertions and conclusions with comprehensive footnotes and an extensive bibliography. I excerpted at least 10-15 pages of information for use in my own studies. Unlike his work on the clearances, only a high-level knowledge of Scottish geography is needed, and likewise a layman-level understanding of world history is all the reader needs...Americans may need to look up a few UK-specific events, but not at a burdensome level.
I toyed with a 4-star rating, but in the end I felt the book fell just short of that. There are some editorial glitches noticeable even to an amateur, and I struggled with the structural layout - sometimes chronological, sometimes topical, and so forth ... this made it hard (for me, at least) to keep things straight. A standalone chapter on the Scots role in the slave trade was interesting and important, but I felt the information could have been integrated more thoroughly, rather than appearing as a standalone, seemingly obligatory, offering to the modern-day anti-colonialists (the chapter name was even phrased as a question). Finally, I thought the book was a bit too brief, with some topics shorted relative to others. I guess that's inevitable, but its also inevitable that it could affect my rating :-)
Overall, I recommend the book for a specialist's insight that is useful to an amateur, as I have Devine's other work. I just found it a cut below his book on the clearances.
This book focuses on the methods and effects- both within Scotland and globally - of Scotland's remarkably massive emigrant community, from the mid-18th century until the beginning of the 21st. By any measure, Scotland produced a massive diaspora relative to its population - a diaspora that has long been though to have "punched above its weight" in global affairs. Devine does a deep and comparative study of the diaspora over centuries and around the world. The book supports some popular conclusions, but many others don't hold up to scrutiny.
Like his other work, the book is wide-ranging and deep - examining the diaspora by segment (trade, military, and so forth); chronology; and locale (both within and outside of the British Empire) - and requires careful reading. While the prose itself is approachable to a amateur and the book comprises fewer than 300 pages, it is most certainly NOT a popular history - it's academic in nature.
Devine provides exhaustive data in-line within the text, generally carefully and clearly tabulated, and further supports his assertions and conclusions with comprehensive footnotes and an extensive bibliography. I excerpted at least 10-15 pages of information for use in my own studies. Unlike his work on the clearances, only a high-level knowledge of Scottish geography is needed, and likewise a layman-level understanding of world history is all the reader needs...Americans may need to look up a few UK-specific events, but not at a burdensome level.
I toyed with a 4-star rating, but in the end I felt the book fell just short of that. There are some editorial glitches noticeable even to an amateur, and I struggled with the structural layout - sometimes chronological, sometimes topical, and so forth ... this made it hard (for me, at least) to keep things straight. A standalone chapter on the Scots role in the slave trade was interesting and important, but I felt the information could have been integrated more thoroughly, rather than appearing as a standalone, seemingly obligatory, offering to the modern-day anti-colonialists (the chapter name was even phrased as a question). Finally, I thought the book was a bit too brief, with some topics shorted relative to others. I guess that's inevitable, but its also inevitable that it could affect my rating :-)
Overall, I recommend the book for a specialist's insight that is useful to an amateur, as I have Devine's other work. I just found it a cut below his book on the clearances.
May 12, 2023
Informative of course, and reasoning easy to follow.
Shelved as 'worth-considering'
February 12, 2012The Browser is a wonderful cornucopia of the best writing around the web, and to the detriment of my bank account has the 'Five Book Interview', in which an expert recommends books (yes, five of them) on a particular subject.
David Cannadine on the British Empire made it hard for me not to just mark all five plus Cannadine's own book too.
December 11, 2016
Good history writing, about how Scottish emigres found their way all over the world and made a contribution to their adoptive homes. My grandmother, Laura Macmillan, was a probably forced emigre to Canada. Bought during a regular tour of every part of Scotland mainland and islands over the past ten years.
Want to read
November 11, 2011KOBOBOOKS
Reviewed by The Guardian
Reviewed by The Guardian
May 4, 2012
Cynical, poorly researched, snooty; I despised it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews