The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature, Volume One: From Columba to the Union (until 1707)

These three volumes offer a major reinterpretation, re-evaluation, and repositioning of what is arguably Scotland's most important and influential contribution to world culture-its literature. Drawing on the very best of recent scholarship, this history contributes a wide range of new and exciting insights and offers a fresh interpretation of what it means to be "Scottish." The first volume begins with a full-scale critical consideration of Scotland's earliest literature, drawn from the diverse cultures and languages of its early peoples. It covers the literature produced during the medieval and early modern period in Scotland, surveying the riches of Scottish work in Gaelic, Welsh, Old Norse, Old English, and Old French, as well as in Latin and Scots. The second volume deals with a period in which Scotland underwent some of the most dramatic upheavals in its history. It reveals how Scottish writers shaped the modernity of Britain, Europe, and the world. The third volume explores Scottish literature in all its forms and languages since the end of World War I, bringing together the best contemporary critical insights from three continents.