As the debate about Scottish independence rages on, this book takes a timely look at how Scotland's politics have been expressed in its buildings, exploring how the architecture of Scotland - in particular the constantly-changing ideal of the 'castle' - has been of great consequence to the ongoing narrative of Scottish national identity. Scotch Baronial provides a politically-framed examination of Scotland's kaleidoscopic 'castle architecture', tracing how it was used to serve successive political agendas both prior to and during the three 'unionist centuries' from the early 17th century to the 20th century. The book encompasses many of the country's most important historic buildings - from the palaces left behind by the 'lost' monarchy, to revivalist castles and the proud town halls of the Victorian age - examining their architectural styles and tracing their wildly fluctuating political and national connotations. It ends by bringing the story into the 21st century, exploring how contemporary 'neo-modernist' architecture in today's Scotland, as exemplified in the Holyrood parliament, relates to concepts of national identity in architecture over the previous centuries.

Introduction: Pre-1603 Scotland: Castellated Architecture and 'Martial Independence' Part I: Absent Monarchs and Civil Strife Chapter 1: 1603-1660: Empty royal palaces and castellated court architectureChapter 2: 1660-1689: From restitution to rejection of the old orderChapter 3: 1689-1750: The architecture of dynastic struggle Part II: From 'Romantic Scotland' to 'Imperial Scotland' Chapter 4: 1750-1790: Enlightenment and RomanticismChapter 5: 1790-1820: Scotland and England in the Age of Revolutionary WarChapter 6: 1820-40: Scott, Abbotsford and 'Scotch' Romanticism Chapter 7: 1840-70: Billings and Bryce: mid-century Baronial Chapter 8: 1870-1900: TraditionalismChapter 9: External reflections: 'national' Scottish architecture and the empire Part III: The twentieth centuryChapter 10: 1914 onwards: Scottish architectural identity in the age of ModernismConclusion: The architecture of Unionist Nationalism - and its international significanceBibliographyIndex