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Land, Elites and People
T.M. Devine, 1999
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The rural Lowlands have tended to become the Cinderella of modern Scottish
history, ignored or marginalised in general studies and attracting few
specialist works in recent years. The reasons are perhaps obvious. The region
did not experience the tragedy and drama which mark the history of the Highlands
while the dominance of towns, cities and industries in 19th and 20th century
Scotland also means that rural society can too easily be dismissed as irrelevant
to an informed understanding of the nation's present condition.
This excerpt from The Scottish Nation 1700 - 2000, however, argues that
an analysis of the rural Lowlands after 1830 is an essential part of the wider
interpretation of the development of modern Scotland. It concentrates on one of
the two central issues which combined to influence the nature and shape of
Scottish society in the 20th century: the structure and power of landownership.
The other was the origins of mass migration from the countryside to the towns
and overseas
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