The long eighteenth century—a period of turmoil, revolution, expansion and empire—sets the scene for Allan I. Macinnes’ and Douglas J. Hamilton’s edited volume Jacobitism, Enlightenment and Empire, 1680—1820. During this period Scotland went through defining changes and shifts with the Revolution of 1688 (which resulted in divisions over the question of Jacobite support) and the Act of Union (which brought, only decades later, the country fully into the early modern British Empire). Yet the contributions made by Scottish men and women in the development of Empire, in British political and commercial progress and in allowing Great Britain to spearhead the industrializing process of the nineteenth century are still largely overlooked.

These topics clearly deserve greater attention. Macinnes, Hamilton and a dozen other scholars in this book prove this fact and make an important contribution to Scottish and British early modern history. The book is based on a seminar series about “Identity and Mobility from Jacobitism to Empire, c. 1680-c. 1820” and a transnational project on “Enterprise, Enlightenment and Empire”. Starting in 2009, the University of Strathclyde arranged both of these undertakings.

The book begins with the events surrounding the Revolution of 1688 when a large group of Scottish supporters gathered to the Stuart-cause. The work by Nicola Cowmeadow on the contributions of Lady Nairne (a character that in past scholarship on Jacobitism has been presented as a heroine and symbol of the Stuart cause but little more) shows us a more nuanced way of presenting influential female characters of the past as shakers and movers in their own right. Cowmeadow goes a long way in showing the importance of Lady Nairne as a person—more than as a symbol—with her own abilities, talents and vast networks crucial to the development of the Jacobite movement in the first decades of the eighteenth century.

After the Revolution of 1688 pivotal questions regarding confession, monarchy and government caused inevitable fragmentations within Early Modern British society. In the Scottish case, such issues were prolonged and hardened with the Act of Union. Although the argument that the Union forced Scotland into a lasting role as second stringer to England was not completely off the mark, it also offered opportunities for Scottish members of the British Empire to leave a lasting impact. This impact is well presented throughout the volume and especially so in the chapters by Stuart M. Nesbit and Sarah Barber, which debate Scottish merchant networks and the growth of a Scottish mercantile identity in the shifting period surrounding the Union (i.e., chapter 7) and address Scottish clergy in the Caribbean who considered a post in the British colonies as more of an opportunity than their English counterparts since the they (and Irish) had less chances to rising to high status within the church domestically (i.e., chapter 5).

In the latter three chapters of the book, the defining Scottish additions to British Enlightenment and Abolition get due attention, albeit with a fresh approach through Jean-Francois Dunyach’s contribution on the relatively unknown inventor of statistical graphics William Fairplay. Dunyach argues that there is a need to discuss “Enlightenment from below” and the often forgotten importance of networks, social standing and acceptance when fate was decided for a potential new member of the enlightened intelligentsia (i.e., chapter 10). The final chapter offers a much needed and nuanced overview of Scottish debates on Abolition. It shows, first and foremost, that there was indeed a debate where historiography tends to present the Scottish approach to this issue as largely one-dimensional. This general Scottish consensus has been set up against English dynamism and public debate. Hamilton’s chapter on the anti-abolition campaigns, the arguments of the Scottish colonial interests and their battle to “defend the colonies against malicious attacks of philanthropy” gives us a better understanding and a fascinating insight into long-lasting, challenging debates that played out in Scottish public and political spheres at the turn of the eighteenth century (chapter 12).

This book is a combination of a wide range of topics made by skilful contributors from various backgrounds and this is, by and large, a great asset. However, it has also resulted in a volume layout that can seem somewhat scattered. Based on the content of each chapter, the book’s structure is a loose chronology of the period. Yet it would arguably benefit from a division into more clearly defined sections according to topic, theme or areas of study. In a book that touches upon so many fields within historical research (e.g., religion, domestic and international politics, social and economic history, literature, etc.), this would make the full extent of the overarching arguments easier to extract. In addition to this point, it is worth noting that the term religion is missing from the title. Naturally, one can hardly talk of Jacobitism and leave out religion since the topic receives as much (if not more) attention than Enlightenment, as well as it being discussed from a confessional, social, political and shifting geographical viewpoints through the book. A clarification of religion’s role throughout the book could be outlined more strongly. Lastly, a bibliography would help the reader navigate the volume and make delving deeper into specific topics easier.

The book gives deserved attention to Scotland’s contribution to European expansion and to the development of the British Empire, both within and outside its legal limits. All the chapters in this volume, including those that could not be mentioned in more detail above, go a long way in acknowledging Scottish influence and entrepreneurship throughout the long eighteenth century, as well as the specific contributions made by Jacobite communities. For academic and public audiences insights into subjects such as the impact of Jacobitism in the British Empire and the influence of Scots in Britain’s Atlantic colonies, as well as abolition, patronage and early modern networks of trade, politics, knowledge and religion, this volume is well worth adding to the reading list.