 | |
| Author | Arthur Herman |
|---|---|
| Subject | Scottish Enlightenment |
| Genre | non-fiction |
| Publisher | Crown Publishing Group, Three Rivers Press |
Publication date | November 2001 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 392 |
| ISBN | 978-0-609-60635-3 |
| OCLC | 46857817 |
| 941.1 21 | |
| LC Class | DA772 .H53 2001 |
How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It (or The Scottish Enlightenment: The Scots invention of the Modern World) is a non-fiction book written by American historian Arthur Herman. The book examines the origins of the Scottish Enlightenment and what impact it had on the modern world. Herman focuses principally on individuals, presenting their biographies in the context of their individual fields and also in terms of the theme of Scottish contributions to the world.
The book was published as a hardcover in November 2001 by Crown Publishing Group and as a trade paperback in September 2002. Critics found the thesis to be over-reaching but descriptive of the Scots' disproportionate impact on modernity. In the American market, the trade paperback peaked at #3 on The Washington Post bestseller list, while in the Canadian market it peaked at #1.