How the Scots Invented the Modern World
The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It

You can read this slowly feasting on the dense information or you can read it quickly getting the overall picture either way this is a wonderful book full of knowledge. I did a little of both. I even enjoyed the parts on the Scottish Enlightenment and David Hume. I especially loved the in depth look......more

The first three quarters of this book are absolutely amazing, showing how the Scottish Enlightenment period essentially created all modern political and philosophical teachings in the modernized world. The book goes in to wonderful historical detail about brilliant individuals who were the product of......more

This was a Christmas gift from my son Matthew, and an incredibly informative and enjoyable read. Any Scot, or anyone with even a trace of Scottish heritage, will naturally feel a kinship with, and love this book -- but it's also a fine work of research that any lover of history will enjoy. Historian......more

I was very disappointed by this. It's a solid and mildly entertaining book, but Herman's title and thesis are woefully inadequate. When he says "How the Scots Invented the Modern World" it is more like "How Scottish Men Made Great Contributions to the English-Speaking World." Any definition of the m......more

To be completely honest, it's hard to find a better written book out there, regardless of the obviously hyperbolic title. This text was so fastidiously researched, so utterly fascinating, and so easy to read that I can't fathom another work that could do the job better. Herman backs up his incredibl......more