We see that javascript is disabled or not supported by your browser - javascript is needed for important actions on the site. Read more

What's New - Home - Login

Member $avings: $81,585,132.37 | Books Available: 792,924 | Members Online: 226

Swap Used Books - Buy New Books at Great Prices!

How To Swap Books Sign Up Search submenu

PBS Market (New Books)

Gift Buying Guide

Book Browser Advanced Search Books Posted Today Member Book Reviews Award Winning Books NYT Best Sellers Amazon Best Sellers Most Traveled Copies Club Wish List

Discussion Forums Book Lists

Club Lists My Book Lists My Watched Lists Create a List

Blog Donations

School Donation Program In Memory of... Military Donation Program Friends of PBS

Box-O-Books Maps The Eclectic Pen Fun Stuff

20 Questions Sudoku Bookmark Creator

Top 100

Requests Posts Swappers Referrers Reviewers

Pulse of PBS Spread The Word

Invite Friends Bookmarks Facebook Page Facebook App More Ways...

Photo Gallery Recipes Club Tag Cloud Member Testimonials

Help Center submenu

How To Swap Books Browse Help Docs Ask the Librarian PBS Member Icons Live Help

Kiosk

PBS Market (New Books) Go Shopping Buy Credits Buy PBS Money Upgrade Membership Gift Certificates Transfer Credits

Need Help?

Search - The Rough Guide to Scotland (5th Edition)

The Rough Guide to Scotland - 5th Edition
Author: Rob Humphreys, Donald Reid

INTRODUCTION — Scotland not only defies description, it gets positively irritated by it. Clichéd images of the place abound--postcards of hairy Highland cows, tartan tins of shortbread, ranks of diamond-patterned golf jerseys--and they drive many Scots to apoplexy. And yet Scotland has a habit of delivering on its classic images: ruined ca... more »stles really do perch on just about every hilltop, in summer the glens inevitably turn purple with heather and, if you're lucky, you just might bump into a formation of bagpipers marching down the village street on gala day.

Scotland is a difficult country, where Celtic hedonism intertwines, somehow, with stern Calvinism, where the losers of battles (and football games) are more romanticized than the winners. It's often defined by its scenery--known to make poets weep, but half the time hidden under a pall of drizzly mist. The country's major contribution to medieval warfare was the chaotic, blood-curdling charge of the half-naked Highlander, yet it's civilized enough to have given the world steam power, the television and penicillin. Chefs from Paris to Prague rhapsodize over Scottish wild salmon and Aberdeen Angus steaks, even while the locals are tucking happily into another deep-fried supper of haggis and chips.

Naturally, the tourist industry tends to play up the heritage and play down the contemporary, but beyond the tartan lies a modern, dynamic nation. Oil and microprocessors now matter more to the Scottish economy than Harris tweed. Edinburgh still has its genteel Royal Mile, but just as many folk are drawn by its clubs and cappuccino culture, while out in the Hebrides, the locals are more likely to be teleworking via the internet than shearing sheep. The Highland huntin-shootin-fishing set are these days outnumbered by mountain bikers and wide-eyed whale-watchers. Much as folk bands are knocking out old tunes on electronic fiddles, reinvention of tradition has become a Scottish artform.

Stuck in the far northwest corner of Europe, Scotland is remote, but it's not isolated. The inspiring emptiness of the wild northwest coast lies barely a couple of hours from Edinburgh and Glasgow, two of Britain's most dense and intriguing urban centres. Ancient ties to Ireland, Scandinavia, France and the Netherlands mean that--compared with the English at least --Scots are pretty enthusiastic about the European Union. EU money has been poured into the infrastructure, particularly in the Highlands and Islands, funding numerous arts projects and sustaining the national identity. By contrast, Scotland's relationship with the "auld enemy", England, remains as problematic as ever. Despite the new Scottish parliament established in Edinburgh in 1999, with its new-found power to shape Scottish life, many Scots still tend to view matters south of the border with a mixture of exaggerated disdain and well-hidden envy. Ask for a "full English breakfast" and you'll quickly find yourself put right. Old prejudices die hard.

ISBN-13: 9781858288734
ISBN-10: 1858288738
Publication Date: 4/15/2002
Pages: 888
Edition: 5th
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Rough Guides
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Travel >> Europe >> Great Britain >> General
Travel >> Reference >> Guidebooks
Travel >> Guidebook Series >> Rough Guide

Back to the Top ↑

Search - The Rough Guide to Scotland (5th Edition)

Loading...