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

Alexander Graham Bell: Scottish.
Adam Smith: Scottish.
Andrew Carnegie: Scottish.
Robert Burns: Scottish.
Sir Walter Scott: Scottish, obviously.

Also many of the U.S.'s founding fathers - from James Madison to Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry to Andrew Jackson were of Scottish descent. And so was Samuel Morse.

So the title of this book, How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It, might be overreaching things, but perhaps just a bit.

The Scots, Arthur Herman informs the reader, were the first to develop a system of free and compulsory public education. The Scottish Enlightenment produced many of the finest thinkers in 18th century Europe: among them, economists, philosophers, architects, and doctors. And then, when the Scots left Scotland, they took with them ambition and drive and education and shaped the U.S. and Canada, New Zealand and Australia into their mold.

Herman's arguments are compelling. They are also, at times, a bit dry. Large chunks of How the Scots Invented the Modern World are lofty and, with all due respect, quite boring. The most interesting and most readable sections focus on individuals (such as Smith, Carnegie, Scott, and Bell) and historical events (such as the creation of the United Kingdom and the Highland Clearances) rather than, say,  the theological underpinnings of the Scottish Kirk. Unfortunately, there is much, much more of the latter than of anything else - and here I admit, I skimmed heavily, rather than reading closely. I was disappointed that the Highland Clearances were summarized in roughly two pages, a disservice to both the event and the reader, when ideas such as moral philosophy and politeness had received entire chapters.

Ultimately, I would say that if you're interested in any of the gentlemen whose names began this post, find a biography. If you're interested in the history of Scotland, I'm sure there are many. This is neither, and in that I was dismayed.