Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746

Steven Watt Murdoch

Research output: Book/ReportBook

Abstract

Network North represents the culmination of a decade’s worth of research and contemplation on the subject of social networking in a variety of fields from commercial exchange to political intrigue. Taking Scots as a study group and the Scandinavian and Baltic areas as their geo-political location of activity, this volume has been positively reviewed internationally and held up as a benchmark for others with similar interests. Selecting it as his Book of the Year, Professor Tom Devine, FBA, declared it “a truly path-breaking study of Scotland’s long-standing forgotten links with the continent.”
The Herald, Review of the Books of The Year, 2006

Historical scholarship dealing with migration and social integration often lacks a satisfactory conceptual framework. This book considers human relationships (both in general and where distinctively Scottish) through a variety of uniquely described ‘network linkages’ which are based on rigorous scholarship and tested against a range of social, commercial and political situations. The result, described by one Swedish reviewer as “a deep and path-breaking achievement”, improves “our understanding of the Scottish role in the shift of European economy […] and is an important contribution to the study of early modern identities, Scottish and others”.
Leos Müller, Scottish Historical Review, LXXXVII, no.223, April 2008

Other Reviews
"Through his extensive research, Murdoch has shown how the Scots were able to achieve success in commerce and industry, and to advance their political and religious agendas wherever the moved across northern Europe. In this book, Murdoch makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how social networks were developed and cultivated in the early modern period"
Donald J. Harreld, American Historical Review, vol. III, no. 5, December 2006


“This is a good book, especially on religious and political aspects of the Scottish diaspora. It has interesting things to say about a wide range of topics, including identity, espionage, and ‘credit’ (in all senses of the word). The international perspective in both archival sources and secondary reading is exemplary. Written in a livlier and more informal style [...] Murdoch’s book is a readable and thoroughly worthwhile contribution to Scottish, British and Scandinavian History.”
R. A. Houston, Economic History Review, LIX, 2 (2006)


“This is clearly an impressive, far-reaching volume that adds much to our understanding of Scottish migrant communities in the early modern period.”
Derek J. Patrick, Journal of Early Modern History, 10:3, 2006


“This book is more ambitious than the title suggests. It comprises the most extensive monograph survey of Scottish expatriate activity in post-Reformation Europe that has been attempted to date and, more generally. A significant reassessment of religious, economic and political aspects of the country’s history during the early modern period. [...] This is a very impressive, groundbreaking book, enjoyable to read, and one which should be a required text for undergraduate and postgraduate students of early modern Scottish history, and for those concerned with the web of connections linking the Stuart and early Hanovarian kingdoms to the Baltic and North Sea regions.”
David Worthington, English Historical Review, cxxi, 491, April 2006


“There are no doubts that Steve Murdoch’s book is a real milestone in research in Scottish, British and European history. Our knowledge of the inner workings of both the emigration from Scotland and Scottish commercial activity has been significantly enriched. … In short, the author has done excellent work to explain how a small nation from the outskirts of Europe so significantly influenced its early modern epoch. Last but not least, the book is not only insightful, but well written and entertaining to read.”
Waldemar Kowalski, Odrodzenie i Reformacja w Polsce, 2006 and also History Scotland, vol. 6, no.1, Jan/Feb 2006

Original languageEnglish
PublisherBrill
Number of pages425
ISBN (Print)9004 14664 4
Publication statusPublished - 2006

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