Scotland

The place of Scotland in the world is Murray Pittock's subject. One of the oldest nations, it is barely counted as a nation by some, and has often been treated as a mere part of British history, neither an English colony nor a fully equal partner in the union. Pittock looks at Scotland's influence on the world and the world's influence on Scotland, from the Thirty Years' War through the Jacobite risings to the current independence debates, exploring empire, the growth of nationalism, and the pressure of an ever more uniform idea of Britishness on the country. After it vanished from the map as an independent state, he argues, Scotland kept building a global brand.

Tyler Cowen included it on his list of the best non-fiction books of 2023.