Stone Voices: The Search for Scotland [Hardcover]

A number of things set Neil Ascherson's book apart from this sub-genre. First, there is the sheer quality of his writing. Take for example his analysis of 'the English grammar of power' in John Major's 1996 announcement to Parliament that the Stone of Destiny (the coronation stone of Scotland's kings, seized by King Edward in the 13th century) was to be returned to Scotland. Major's statement was 'reeking of royal absolutism, constitutional fairy tale and transformative magic (by the use of a tutelary fetish inserted under royal buttocks)'. Tom Nairn is the only other writer I can think of who can be as elegantly scathing of the Ruritanian nonsense which underpins the British constitution.

Secondly, there is the breadth of journalistic experience Ascherson brings to his subject, and the authority with which he can contrast Scottish history, politics, language or archaeology with examples from Europe (particularly Eastern Europe). This has the welcome effect of guiding the reader through aspects of Scotland and Scotland's past using a refreshingly different set of reference points.

Finally, like his earlier study of the Black Sea, it is the ease with which the book explores disparate subjects and themes that makes it so compelling. Ascherson can move effortlessly from dark age settlements in mid Argyll to 19th century geology or from 17th century Scottish settlement in Poland to 20th century Labour politics. A less talented writer would struggle to control the breadth of reference here, but Ascherson, like Claudio Magris, has the knack of taking the unusual example and making illuminate rather than obscure his point. A book, by one of Britain's finest journalists, for anyone who wants to understand Scotland.

Ascherson also looks at what Scotland's re-established nationhood means to Americans, including those with rather shaky connections, such as Trent Lott, who pushed through a resolution calling for Tartan Day in the United States in recognition of the 1320 Declaratin of Arbroath. Ascherson seems a bit puzzled why Americans would still so strongly identify themselves with Scotland, being so many generations removed.

He also criticized the overt Scottish nationalism which has grown in recent years, at times reaching the point of shear madness. But, for the most part Ascherson looks at the more subtle aspects of Scottish independence, rooting them in history and mythology. It is a very engaging book and should rekindle your interest in Scotland's storied past.

In certain instances, nonetheless, this reader found his conclusions difficult to accept. This is particularly the case, in his references to the covenanters. His assessment of their role is generally very interesting. In seeking to highlight the positive aspects of their contribution along with that of their Presbyterian predecessors, however, it is surely not only twenty-first century Stuart nostalgists who would agree that Ascherson goes too far. In stating that "If Presbyterianism had failed, Scotland today would be little more than an item of British regional geography" (p.274), he offers too-simplistic an analysis of the debate over the role of bishops within the Scottish church following the Reformation. Similarly, his opinion that Charles II and James VII and II set out to "impose Episcopal church government on Scotland" (p.278) during the later seventeenth century fails to acknowledge a very different situation north of the Tay, where support for the notion of a Protestant episcopate remained widespread.

All in all, this is a fascinating personal journey into Scotland's past.