A recent read completed at the end of June was another instalment of the Black Inc short history series – ‘The Shortest History of Scotland’ by Murray Pittock, published in 2026, of 205 pages.
While this book was of specific interest to me [because of family ancestry], I did find it difficult to read at times amongst various distractions, etc over a period of weeks. However, with persistence, it provided an excellent summary of historical Scottish and English kings, with a few discrepancies compared to the listing in my recently completed family history publication. With the proliferation of ancient kings, tribes, family allegiances, etc, it was difficult at times to keep a track of who and what aspect of their history and relationships with each other was being covered by the author, although I guess that is not unusual when trying to establish an accurate history of pre-1000 AD times! As noted on the book cover, ‘The Shortest History of Scotland argues that its very ambiguity is what has made the nation a central part of the global story’, a nation described as one of the oldest nations in Europe whose territory has remained [with some minor adjustments] fundamentally unchanged since the fifteenth century!
So Pittock takes us from the very beginning – Scotland before Scotland, a tribal society closely connected by sea to Ireland, and later becoming a place defined by its being beyond the Roman wall [with the Romans in the latter part of the first century AD, not venturing much beyond the confines of ‘England’ as it then was]. Although if the DNA research undertaken in my family lines are any indication, there was some degree of interaction with the Scots beyond the ‘wall’ – that research indication that my ancestral family lines qyuite likely arose from a single Thracian cavalryman as part of the Thracian Cohorts in England at the time the Romans were having a bit of strife from the locals. It was at this time that Hadrian’s wall was being built and the 20th Legion was part of the construction team before moving north to construct the Antonine wall. Interestingly, though not confirmed as a precise connection, reference [page 163], in discussing the work of the Scot explorer and missionary, David Livingstone [1813-73], mention is made of Livingstone’s companion at the time ‘Sir John Kirk [who] ‘played a role in the treaty between Great Britain and Zanzibar for the suppression of the slave trade in 1873’.
Anyway, putting that aside! Supporting my comment above, of the occasional difficulty of following the historical trends depicted, one reviewer [a Rowan MacDonald] noted that ‘Murray Pittock traces the history from stone circles and Romans through to modern day and the likes of Brexit. His writing is clear and to the point – even though there was still content over my head…..The book sometimes resembled a bunch of names and dates that were confusing to remember, but the fast pacing ensured any tedious sections flew by. Discussions of religious histories and politics reminded me of school textbooks, though I quickly re-engaged during strong sections on recent Scottish independence talks and Brexit’. My thoughts precisely!
Certainly, the book also provided a clearer understanding of the many conflicts both within Scotland itself and against English Kings and their forces. There was certainly no shortage of wars and conflicts in Scotland’s history and the book provided for this reader understanding of such occurrences as Bannockburn and Culloden [with as far as I can ascertain, events in which my ancestors were likely involved]. The latter actually received, along with other occasions of the time, an interesting coverage in the recent TV series ‘The Outlander’!
I also agreed with MacDonald’s comment that ‘I particularly enjoyed reading about Robert the Bruce, William Wallace, Robbie Burns, Sir Walter Scott and the origins of Scots language, bagpipes and tartan. Away from battles and royalty, it was interesting to learn how ordinary people lived during the times [and about] the extent of deep ties and alliances with France’ [another aspect brought to life in ‘Outlander’].
In this year’s July edition of the Australian Book Review, Gordon Pentland notes that ‘The overall narrative of the Shortest History is shaped by Scotland’s wider connections, and the focus is on its multiple ethnicities and languages, both as it became a nation up to the fourteenth century and as it has been refashioned in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. At the same time, there is also a reassuringly old-fashioned emphasis on battles and risings, a maps-and-chaps style rendering of national turning points. Pittock is one of the experts on the 1746 Battle of Culloden, and so we naturally get an authoritative few pages on the battle and its consequences. But other battles receive similar treatment. The 1314 Battle of Bannockburn gets three pages and maps visualising days one and two of the conflict. Some readers will find this refreshing and appealing, especially those in search of a straightforward zoom through the highs and lows of Scotland’s history.
Finally a reflection from Norrie Sanders writing for the Queensland Reviewers Collective. In the history of Scotland, the ‘Early Roman and Viking incursions never achieved dominance. That honour was left to Scotland’s most persistent foe – the English. Battles over the border lands have been common and Scotland for many centuries was allied to France – with strong military and economic ties to Europe that are reflected to this day. The Anglo-Scottish relationship has been a roller coaster since a unified Scotland emerged around 900. After centuries of skirmishes, the Scottish/English border was finally settled in 1237. England took over (at least in the South) in 1298, yet the efforts of Robert the Bruce delivered independence just 30 years later. The balance fluctuated for several centuries, with periods of autonomy coming with strings attached: Effectively Scotland was being treated as a foreign state, but not permitted to act like one [p120]. Since the Act of Union in 1707, Scotland has been the subordinate, with fluctuating levels of self-governance and quasi-independence into modern times.
The challenge of writing in the Shortest History series is to weave a coherent narrative from 10,000 years of human habitation, without resorting to a dumbed down version that rehashes well-known material.
Murray Pittock succeeds in this challenge – he draws several threads through the complex tribal and ethnic history of ancient Scotland, that are largely unbroken throughout history. Some of the most famous events such as the battle of Culloden and the highland clearances are briefly mentioned within the context of the wider circumstances that frame them. A second thread is the strong relationship to Europe, which links to the long-established immigration from surrounding countries, balanced by the emigration of Scots seeking their fortune.
So while this book is essentially directed towards history buffs and those with a specific interest in Scotland, it adds significantly to the current series of short histories, which now I believe total 23 books, of which this page, in addition to Scotland, has commented on the Short Histories of Scandinavia, France and Music
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