Praise for Tom Devine
2 Jan 2019

Recent praise for Tom Devine’s The Scottish Clearances : A History of the Dispossessed 1500-1900.

’ Absolutely magnificent.It is beautifully clear,admirably lucid,truly genuine and very judicious…a genius for cleaving the way through modern scholarship while remaining firmly on a level of comradely instruction rather than condescension or conceit.’ Owen Dudley Edwards historian and author at the University of Edinburgh.20 November 2018

‘Diana Gabaldon admires a riveting study of the forces that separated thousands of Scots from their land. The detail and depth of knowledge displayed are remarkable - but what’s truly amazing is how damn readable it is! The scholarship is ironclad … filled with fascinating details’. Diana Gabaldon The Telegraph 2 November 2018

’ Devine’s book should be in every Scottish library,private as well as public.He is a master in moulding the morass of new historiographic material into a digestible whole.He writes with admirable clarity,sticking closely to verifiable information, with two audiences in mind, one his peers in universities, the other the reading public.’ Alan Taylor Scottish Review of Books 10 November 2018

’ A great historian punctures a national myth.This superb book is written by a member of the Scottish intellectual aristocracy(Tom Devine is a knight as well as a professor)which renders its conclusions almost unassailable.This is a life work…what is obvious is that the book is massively researched.’ David Aaronovitch The Times 10 November 2018

‘A fine eye for detail with meticulously researched discussion…It is to Devine’s great credit that he has softened the mythology of the Clearances and restored a forgotten people to the historical record.’ Alastair Benn Reaction 16 November 2018

‘Highly recommenced. Very well written and all the points are clearly explained so easily accessible for the general reader.Everything Devine writes is worth reading-he is a Scottish history course in himself.Five stars.’ FictionFan’s Book Reviews 17 December 2018

’ Thankfully into the debate comes Tom Devine,Scotland’s best modern historian…he make history accessible backed up with formidable original research…a balanced,detailed and extremely readable account of one of the saddest events in (Scotland’s) history.’ Ewen MacAskill The Guardian Book of the Day 22 December 2018