Universalising the geographies of enlightenment Edinburgh

Abstract

ABSTRACT Phil Dodds's book is the first to explore Enlightenment Edinburgh's role across multiple scales, from individual people, books, houses, and shops to government and institutions at regional, national and international levels. As he shows, the city's character and the activities of its inhabitants and visitors were strongly determined by a forceful assertion of growing economic hegemony, warfare and colonialism, and the associated struggles for power. Exploiting numerous sources from archival materials to printed books, Dodds clearly demonstrates how richly interconnected the city's population was with its immediate hinterland, the Scottish nation and wider world. The book emphasises the dynamic, changing and interconnected processes revealed by ‘universalising’ Enlightenment Edinburgh, providing fresh thinking on subjects like the development of the New Town, the history of Edinburgh High School, and the changing composition of works published in the city.