Customer Reviews

Before Scotland: The Story of Scotland Before History

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Alistair Moffat has produced an excellent introduction to Scottish prehistory. Moffat reviews the archeology and history of Scotland from roughly 11,000 years ago until the beginning of the Middle Ages. He is at his best when he examines the archeological evidence and what it tells us about how these early inhabitants lived--what their homes were like, what they ate, how they obtained their food, the material culture they produced, and what we can guess about their religious practices. Many of the descriptions of actual historical events (with the exception of the Roman period) are covered in too little detail to be satisfying.

Although readers with training in the hard sciences may wince at some of Moffat's comments--his brief description of the Big Bang and formation of the solar system, for example--and everyone except for native Scots will wish that a good map had been included, this book is well worth the time spent. Sit back, pour a wee nip of single malt, and enjoy this journey into the past.

This was without doubt the most enthralling history of a place that I have ever read - and that's a broad statement from someone who loves biographies. It was readable, not at all stilted in language or style, and very hard to put down. Moffat tells the story and describes the people - and although a lot is conjecture and extrapolation, it has never been done better.

I devoured this book for its insights into a period of history hard to lern about: pre-Roman scotland. I left very very informed. Some of the negative reviews have noted that it drifts some, both in terms of subject matter and style. But after you read the first few chapters (which are solid) it is easy to skip through subjects you are not as interested and home in those you are.

I have been looking for books on Scotland history that were more up to date with the latest ideas of the Pics and history. I really enjoyed reading this book because of its thorough examples of sights found and examples of comaprative people and places. The book is easy to read without making the past complicated and stating what life may have been like. I know wihtout really being there and having written record we can only go on what is left behind to tell the story.

1. Couldn't stand the writing style: like an over-enthusiastic schoolteacher performing - seems to have been written for kids, perhaps around year 7. (eg tedious explanations of human behaviours I think most adults would already understand).

2. He's all over the place, continually jumping to modern day examples and/or non-Scottish material (eg on one page he explains how Mt Everest was formed!). Seems the guy has a broad knowledge and just loves to show it off.

3. Continually presents his hypotheses as though fact. I'd like a dollar for every time something "must have" occurred without any supporting evidence.

You may suspect I'm exaggerating - unfortunately not.

This book goes more to show how many books the author could cite in his reading list than to narrate the history of Scotland. Bragging that this book breaks out of the mold of 'narrative' history is more a confession that the author possesses no grasp of the development of pre-Scottish Scotland.

It is not even particularly useful as a place-name guide, because the one map provided must have come from his book on the history of the Scottish Border Region, as it shows only that region in (sparse) detail, as compared to the paucity if not non-existent detail for the rest of Scotland, not to mention northern England or Ireland. The reader is left in the dark as to whether events occurred next door, or even in the same century (or millenium).

The lack of a pronounciation guide for Old Welsh leaves the reader in the dark as to how the various names evolved. Of course, there is always the possibility that this hides the fact that the author can't vocalize it either. Even the mention of P-Gaelic and Q-Gaelic is less than useful when there so few examples given.

Considering that the publisher offers self-publishing services, it probably was, a probably-partisan Oxford professor's endorsement notwithstanding.