The Scottish Empire charts the involvement of the Scots in the British Empire from its earliest days to the end of the twentieth century. It is a tale of dramatic extremes and craggy characters, of a variety of concerns, from education, evangelism and philanthropy to spying, swindles and drug running. It sets stories of Scottish regiments on the rampage, of cannibalism and of atrocities beside the deeds of heroic pioneers such as David Livingstone and Mary Slessor. It tells of little-known incidents of famous men — such as William Gladstone's punch-up with a Greek bishop and the Earl of Elgin's burning of the Summer Palace in Peking.
But above all this book tells of how the British Empire came to be dominated by and run by Scots and of how it truly became 'The Scottish Empire'. As the Earl of Dalhousie, Governor of India, proclaimed: 'I am a Scot and prefer to do what I have to do cannily as well as boldly.' Scotland was transformed beyond recognition by the Empire, and the Empire by Scotland.
