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The invention of Scotland : myth and history by Hugh R. Trevor-Roper is a history book available to read on EtoBox.

What is The invention of Scotland : myth and history about?

This book argues that while Anglo-Saxon culture has given rise to virtually no myths at all, myth has played a central role in the historical development of Scottish identity. Hugh Trevor-Roper explores three myths across 400 years of Scottish history: the political myth of the “ancient constitution” of Scotland; the literary myth, including Walter Scott as well as Ossian and ancient poetry; and the sartorial myth of tartan and the kilt, invented—ironically, by Englishmen—in quite modern times. Trevor-Roper reveals myth as an often deliberate cultural construction used to enshrine a people’s identity. While his treatment of Scottish myth is highly critical, indeed debunking, he shows how the ritualization and domestication of Scotland’s myths as local color diverted the Scottish intelligentsia from the path that led German intellectuals to a dangerous myth of racial supremacy. This compelling manuscript was left unpublished on Trevor-Roper’s death in 2003 and is now made available for the first time. Written with characteristic elegance, lucidity, and wit, and containing defiant and challenging opinions, it will absorb and provoke Scottish readers while intriguing many others. “I b

Who reads The invention of Scotland : myth and history?

Author

Hugh R. Trevor-Roper

Publisher

Yale University Press

Published

2008

Language

EN

ISBN

9780300136869

Category

history

Subjects

Fiction, History, Humanities

Rating

3.78 / 5 (29 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14