As a qualitative study of the physical space, architecture and planning of the Scottish town, this book is a major landmark not just in terms of research, but as a treasure-trove for the general reader seeking a clearer understanding of how Scottish society changed during this period.
Thomas Munck, Innes Review ... Read more The work deftly brings together social history, economic history, architectural history, and Enlightenment studies to focus upon a wealth of material - architectural drawings and town plans, contemporary paintings and sketches, maps, burgh council minutes and committee records. The result is an important and substantial contribution to Scottish, and to British, urban history and historical geography and one that deserves to be read widely for its historiographical implications as much as for its argument and level of detail...a significant achievement and a fitting tribute to McKean's eclectic scholarship.
Charles W.J. Withers, Journal of Historical Geography This is an outstanding work of scholarship: it revises the intellectual framework of urban history (including English urban history), and adds nuanced detail and interpretation to a number of Scottish towns which have been overlooked for far too long.
Richard Rodger, English Historical Review Deeply researched, cogently written, and lavishly illustrated, The Scottish Town in the Age of the Enlightenment, 1740-1820 sets a new standard for the study of provincial urbanization in the eighteenth century.
Fredrik Albritton Jonsson, University of Chicago, Journal of Modern History As a qualitative study of the physical space, architecture and planning of the Scottish town, this book is a major landmark not just in terms of research, but as a treasure-trove for the general reader seeking a clearer understanding of how Scottish society changed during this period.
Thomas Munck, Innes Review The work deftly brings together social history, economic history, architectural history, and Enlightenment studies to focus upon a wealth of material - architectural drawings and town plans, contemporary paintings and sketches, maps, burgh council minutes and committee records. The result is an important and substantial contribution to Scottish, and to British, urban history and historical geography and one that deserves to be read widely for its historiographical implications as much as for its argument and level of detail...a significant achievement and a fitting tribute to McKean's eclectic scholarship.
Charles W.J. Withers, Journal of Historical Geography This is an outstanding work of scholarship: it revises the intellectual framework of urban history (including English urban history), and adds nuanced detail and interpretation to a number of Scottish towns which have been overlooked for far too long.
Richard Rodger, English Historical Review Show Less