The Scottish World: A Journey Into the Scottish Diaspora

The Scottish World: A Journey Into The Scottish Diaspora is an excellent "read" as we would say in Scotland. It is well written with a perfect balance of humour and research statistics. Billy Kay takes his task seriously, describing the diaspora, but is secure enough to feel that he does not have to fill countless pages with mindless drivel to justify the title. I will be forwarding this book to a family member with much praise of the author.

The story of the Scots diaspora is well known and virtually every family in Scotland has relatives abroad.Since the Scots have been travelling outside their homeland for centuries there are also descendants scattered across the globe, not only in expected places like Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa but also in places like Argentina, Jamaica, Poland and Sweden.I live in Brazil where the Scottish community is tiny yet we have made an impact.Brazil's independence from Portugal was brought about thanks to a Scotsman called Thomas Cochrane who led the fledgling Brazilian navy and is still remembered here. (Cochrane also helped Peru and Chile to cast of the Spanish yoke.)The man who introduced football here, Charles Miller, was the son of an engineer from Glasgow. The Brazilians repaid him by turned the game into an art.Brazil's greatest poet of the 20th century, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, was a descendant of a Scottish family that arrived here via Hungary and Madeira.Brazil's first industrialist, Ireneu da Sousa, served his apprenticeship at a Scottish trading house in Rio de Janeiro and was invited to become a partner, showing how integrated the Scots were.There is a much stronger Scottish presence further south in Argentina and the first president after the ending of military rule, Raul Foulkes Alfonsin, was of Scots descent.This is the kind of book that will appeal to many Scots, particularly those who live abroad, and descendants of Scots.It won't appeal to those who don't like Kay's "wha's like us approach" or those who feel the Scots should be ashamed rather than proud of their part in the creation and expansion of the British Empire.My main criticism is the lack of editing. Some of the material originated from radio scripts and should have been edited. There are also too many "humorous" aside ending in exclamation marks!!!!!!!

Beware of the hardback if you are looking for Chapter 14. This appears only in the paperback version of the book.I have read other Billy Kay books about Scotland, Scottishness and the Scots language. He gathers a lot of information that would otherwise have to be researched and it is useful and informative. His writing style, like his speech in some of his radio broadcasts, switches occasionally into latter day vernacular. west-central lowland Scots. 'Couthy' is the adjective for this, and he does it for effect, which is fine for me, as that's my own hinterland. However, as there is no accepted orthography for modern Scots, it is distracting for me to read and no doubt more so for anyone not accustomed to it.

The story of the Scots diaspora is well known and virtually every family in Scotland has relatives abroad.Since the Scots have been travelling outside their homeland for centuries there are also descendants scattered across the globe, not only in expected places like Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa but also in places like Argentina, Jamaica, Poland and Sweden.I live in Brazil where the Scottish community is tiny yet we have made an impact.Brazil's independence from Portugal was brought about thanks to a Scotsman called Thomas Cochrane who led the fledgling Brazilian navy and is still remembered here. (Cochrane also helped Peru and Chile to cast of the Spanish yoke.)The man who introduced football here, Charles Miller, was the son of an engineer from Glasgow. The Brazilians repaid him by turned the game into an art.Brazil's greatest poet of the 20th century, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, was a descendant of a Scottish family that arrived here via Hungary and Madeira.Brazil's first industrialist, Ireneu da Sousa, served his apprenticeship at a Scottish trading house in Rio de Janeiro and was invited to become a partner, showing how integrated the Scots were.There is a much stronger Scottish presence further south in Argentina and the first president after the ending of military rule, Raul Foulkes Alfonsin, was of Scots descent.This is the kind of book that will appeal to many Scots, particularly those who live abroad, and descendants of Scots.It won't appeal to those who don't like Kay's "wha's like us approach" or those who feel the Scots should be ashamed rather than proud of their part in the creation and expansion of the British Empire.My main criticism is the lack of editing. Some of the material originated from radio scripts and should have been edited. There are also too many "humorous" aside ending in exclamation marks!!!!!!!

This is a fascinating, accurate, historical account of the impact that the Scottish diaspora has had across the world - laced too with Billy Kay's humour. Add it to Professor Arthur Herman's book "The Scottish Enlightenment" it is equally as worthy and expands your knowledge!

" The Scottish World: A Journey Into the Scottish Diaspora " has so many laughs and delightful surprises for someone whose only knowledge of Scottish History may be school-based British-slanted and referenced. It is so refreshing to see where the Scots went and how they influenced profound changes in those places. The humorous tone and judicious use of historical dates and detail lets the story flow and makes this a light and life-enhancing read.

Great read 👍

absolutely wonderful. a must for sholars and dilletantes alike.

Billy Kay provides an engaging overview of the long history of Scottish migrations to a variety of destinations near and far, coloured by his own travels and encounters with proud descendants of those who in many cases became influential members of the new societies they joined. A useful introduction to the topic for the general reader.

Excellent Book

Loved every word

The information was so interesting and added to the knowledge I already had on this subject particularly with the Swedish connections.