Who Made the Scottish Enlightenment?

About the Book

The Scottish Enlightenment is often portrayed as elitist and Edinburgh based with no universally agreed beginning or end. Additionally, the Philosophers and scholars (the great Scottish Enlightenment figures) sometimes obscure significant contributions from other disciplines so that the achievements of a wider conception of the Scottish Enlightenment are not universally known. Sir Walter Scott also recognised that his nation ‘the peculiar features of whose manners and character are daily melting and dissolving into that of her sister and ally’ had an identity crisis. Both issues are addressed in this enquiry which seeks to highlight the scale and breadth of the Scottish Enlightenment whilst posing the question as to how Scottish identity can be preserved.

About the Author

Dr Colin Russell qualified in History, Geography and Primary Education at Moray House College, Edinburgh University, in 1979. A career as a primary headteacher culminated at Dean Park Primary School in Edinburgh in 2013. During his career he worked in various academic roles for the Open University and in 2011 became the Chair of the British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society during which time he was instrumental in founding and chairing the International Congress of Educational Leadership Societies.