Summary of Arthur Herman's How the Scots Invented the Modern World

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 The Scottish Reformation was the work of one man, John Knox, and he was able to turn the Scots into God’s chosen people and turn Scotland into the New Jerusalem. He imposed the Calvinist Sabbath on Scottish society, and banned all traditional forms of collective fun.

#2 The Kirk, which was the main church in Scotland, turned its back on secular values and embraced God alone. It created a new society in the image of Knox’s utopian ideal.

#3 Knox despised political authority, and treated all monarchs he came across with impatience and contempt. Yet he knew that monarchs were ordained by God, and that the people had to defend their political power against any interlopers.

#4 The dream of the people as sovereign died in Scotland with the death of John Knox, but it left its trace within the church itself in the system of synods peculiar to every parish and province in Scotland.