Scotch Baronial: Architecture and National Identity in Scotland

As the debate about Scottish independence rages on, this book takes a timely look at how Scotland's politics have been expressed in its buildings, exploring how the architecture of Scotland - in particular the constantly-changing ideal of the `castle' - has been of great consequence to the ongoing narrative of Scottish national identity. Scotch Baronial provides a politically-framed examination of Scotland's kaleidoscopic `castle architecture', tracing how it was used to serve successive political agendas both prior to and during the three `unionist centuries' from the early 17th century to the 20th century. The book encompasses many of the country's most important historic buildings - from the palaces left behind by the `lost' monarchy, to revivalist castles and the proud town halls of the Victorian age - examining their architectural styles and tracing their wildly fluctuating political and national connotations. It ends by bringing the story into the 21st century, exploring how contemporary `neo-modernist' architecture in today's Scotland, as exemplified in the Holyrood parliament, relates to concepts of national identity in architecture over the previous centuries.