Book Log: Scotland: The Global History (1603 to the Present)
Feb. 25th, 2026 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scaramoucheIt's interesting to read a book that is, topic-wise, so of interest to me, but I have to battle the writing almost every step of the way. Murray Pittock's writing for an audience that already knows Scotland somewhat, and knows various terms related to Scottish life and/or politics without explanation (this is fine, I can look them up), but he has a tendency for putting too much info into sentences that are grammatically correct but perhaps could have been simplified, eg.:
Colonel Andrew Hamilton (d.1703), governor of East and West New Jersey in 1692-97 was (though later reinstated) deposed from office under an English act (c.22) of William III and II (r.1688-1702 in England, from 1689 in Scotland and 1691 in Ireland) which declared that 'no public post of trust or profit in the colonies could be held by any other than a natural born subject of England'.
The information is there, but it's presented in such a way it takes me a moment to have to parse the point of the sentence. And having to pause often through the book instead of letting the words flow over me, makes it a harder read, if only for that.
( Cut for length. )
It's also funny that towards the end Pittock mentions that the younger generation is getting hungrier to learn about their own country (as opposed to overall British history) and that has only recently been gaining traction with the relatively new availability of exclusively Scottish history books. And that's why it was so hard to find Scottish history books when I was looking for them a while back!
Colonel Andrew Hamilton (d.1703), governor of East and West New Jersey in 1692-97 was (though later reinstated) deposed from office under an English act (c.22) of William III and II (r.1688-1702 in England, from 1689 in Scotland and 1691 in Ireland) which declared that 'no public post of trust or profit in the colonies could be held by any other than a natural born subject of England'.
The information is there, but it's presented in such a way it takes me a moment to have to parse the point of the sentence. And having to pause often through the book instead of letting the words flow over me, makes it a harder read, if only for that.
( Cut for length. )
It's also funny that towards the end Pittock mentions that the younger generation is getting hungrier to learn about their own country (as opposed to overall British history) and that has only recently been gaining traction with the relatively new availability of exclusively Scottish history books. And that's why it was so hard to find Scottish history books when I was looking for them a while back!
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