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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
gaels on top, 8 Sep 2006
This is essentially the work of a journalist, not a historian. It is no use expecting objectivity or rigorous scholarship; John MacLeod indulges in a few implausible speculations and repeats some widespread but quite erroneous ideas. On the other hand, his is not the urban propagandist's version of Highland history, replete with perfidious Englishmen and burning thatch. You are conscious on every page that the text was written by one born and still living in the Gaidhealtachd, who shares their concerns as one of their own.
An unfortunate consequence of this is the tendency to identify the Gaelic cause with that of Highland presbyterianism, a phenomenon which is after all less than 200 years old. No doubt it is still an important element of life in the Gaelic strongholds of Harris and Lewis; yet for most of their history the Highlands were Catholic (or, as MacLeod prefers to put it, `popish by profession and pagan for real') and some Gaelic-speaking areas are still mainly Catholic or Episcopalian today. Not only are MacLeod's detailed discussions of evangelical sects and splinter groups likely to tax the patience of the average reader, but he allows his religious beliefs to colour the whole narrative. His account of the early Celtic Church, especially, is rankly false. A man who is capable of using a phrase like `a Roman Catholic of the worst kind' and of writing that `mass hysteria often seems to accompany the symptoms of genuine Revival' - both without apparent irony - does not possess the degree of detachment expected of even a popular historian. For me, this is a serious flaw; but to be fair MacLeod acknowledges his own prejudices at the outset. If the reader accepts them in good part, they mar but don't spoil the book.
Mr MacLeod throughout follows the convention of `Gael' as meaning strictly `Gaelic-speaker', and therefore the book's purview shrinks as it goes on - from the concerns of a large and powerful region in the early chapters to those of a few thousand islanders by the end. That, in a nutshell, is the story of Gaeldom. To the outsider, the closing chapters may seem somewhat anti-climactic, with their minutiae of ferry timetables and church politics, but these are the issues which matter to islanders. If he was to update the volume, he might add to those the present preoccupations with windfarms, estate buyouts and Gaelic-medium education.
Apart from that, nothing much has changed in the ten years since this was written. For the reader interested in the region as it is now, as well as in history, this makes a very readable survey. Despite the naivety and preconceptions MacLeod has a sure grasp of historical process, and there are some penetrating insights.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A facination look at Scottish history..., 22 Sep 2003
An excellent book for anyone who likes their history accessible and interesting, not dusty. The style is informative without being a cure for insomnia. I was engaged in the book from start to finish and ended the book feeling satisfied. The book feels unbiased in its viewpoints and invites the reader to come to their own conclusions without the author being dogmatic. I would recommend this book to my friends!
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Stable can be boring, 22 May 2003
The book follows the stream of highland life from its known beginnings to the modern era, the author explores many of the branches of this stream, social, economic, political, etc. with remarkable style and wit. He gives a small but apt account to all these matters and maintains a steady quality throughout. Here in itself is its main flaw, even though it is privilege to read such a stable book, it still lacks in flavor and variance, without which it fails to keep the reader interested throughout. Even though the material changes, you find yourself getting bored nearly half way through the book and drifting away from the pages because of this flaw. Leaving this aside, the book is opinionated history but of the best kind really, as all characters are dealt with fairly and generously, but this does take away from the book as you feel like your reading an account of events rather than an objective history with as many perspectives taken into account as possible. Besides this, the book is both entertaining, and insightful but sadly lacking in its ability to maintain enjoyment throughout. While the style in which it is written is intriguing, it grows old very quickly. All in all, worth a read but I’m sure there are better histories out there.
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by Calum Ferguson
