Religion is at the very core of Scotland's turbulent, action-packed history and its unique cultural heritage. Indeed, you could argue that Scotland has been, for most of the past 1600 years, an intensely religious country. It is home to some of the most significant early Christian art anywhere in the entire world, and has an amazing 53 cathedrals. In a fast-paced and enthralling epic celebration of Scotland's spiritual heritage, this amazing voyage of discovery reveals that there are echoes of the upsides and downsides of religion everywhere. The distinctive spiritual beauty of Scotland is inspiring and to be found in the most unexpected places. The author also casts a canny eye over some ever-controversial issues such as witchcraft, sectarianism, the Clearances and the DIsruption. Other topics include the Isles, literature, the differences between Edinburgh and Glasgow, Calvanism, Margaret Thatcher, the Declaration of Arbroath, The National Covenant, church buildings, special spiritual sites, spiritual leaders, kings and queens, little-known influential women, religious revivals, Celtic Christianity - and many other elements of the diverse essence of spiritual Scotland. Scotland's Christianity always mixed with politics and was a key part of our national identity....until now, that is. Now Scotland is an apparently secular country, often oblivious to its Christian foundations. Can Christianity be revived in Scotland - or is it dead and buried for ever? Harry Reid has some controversial and perhaps surprising answers.

A study of Scottish thinkers and writers in their political and cultural context. The "advancement of learning" was the term used by late seventeenth-century Scots for intellectual enquiry of all kinds. Encouraged by Stuart patronage, and echoing a Royalist ideology of continuity and order following the chaos of the Civil War, the "Virtuosi", Scottish writers and thinkers, sought to define Scotland's identity. They undertook structured, empirical enquiry into Scottish natural history and geography, human history and antiquities, law and society, while the legal and medical professions developed their status and purpose through institutions such as the Royal College of Physicians and the Advocates' Library. They both complemented and eclipsed the changing intellectual life of the Church and Universities. This book considers the work of leading authors, such as Sir George Mackenzie, Sir Robert Sibbald and Lord Stair, alongside the many other voices engaged in learned research and debate, examining their shared or contrasting philosophy and methods. It shows how a distinctively Scottish take on the "Scientific Revolution" was enhanced by close contacts with the Royal Society and English thinkers, and a conscious membership of the European Republic of Letters.