Scott-land: The Man Who Invented a Nation

Description

His name and image are everywhere - from Bank of Scotland fivers to the bizarre monument in Edinburgh's city centre. Scott-land presumes that the reader will have only a hazy awareness of Sir Walter Scott, and, although Stuart Kelly will offer insights into Scott's works and biography, this is emphatically not a conventional literary biography, nor is it a critical study. Partly a surreptitious autobiography - Stuart Kelly was born near Abbotsford - his examination of Scott's legacy and character come to change his own thoughts on writing, reviewing, being Scottish, and being human.

Stuart Kelly was raised in the Scottish Borders and studied English at Balliol College Oxford, gaining a first class degree and a Master of Studies. He was the Literary Editor of Scotland on Sunday and is now a freelance critic and writer.

'In a smart, refreshingly uncynical book, Kelly examines Scott, Scotland and himself in an intelligent, lively analysis of a great small country' -- Ian Finlayson * The Times * 'A lovely piece of work - the best book on Scott, indeed, since Edwin Muir's Scott and Scotland' -- Andrew O'Hagan 'Kelly engagingly assesses Scott's various works and insightfully sets Scott in his context' * Independent *