The Poor Had No Lawyers :Who Owns Scotland and How They Got it
The Poor Had No Lawyers :Who Owns Scotland and How They Got it
mass market paperback
Published:
7 November, 2024
Description
Who owns Scotland? How did they get it? What happened to all the common land in Scotland? Has the Scottish Parliament made any difference? Can we get our common good land back? In this book, Andy Wightman updates the statistics of landownership in Scotland and explores how and why landowners got their hands on the millions of acres of land that were once held in common.
He tells the untold story of how Scotland's legal establishment and politicians managed to appropriate land through legal fixes. Have attempts to redistribute this power more equitably made any difference, and what are the full implications of the recent debt-fuelled housing bubble, the Smith Commission and the new Scottish Government's proposals on land reform? For all those with an interest in urban and rural land in Scotland, this updated edition of The Poor Had No Lawyers provides a fascinating analysis of one the most important political questions in Scotland.
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9781780278834 |
| ISBN10 | 1780278837 |
| Number Of Pages | 576 |
| Item Weight | 450 g |
| Product Dimensions | 129 x 198 x 37 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | Birlinn General |
| Format | mass market paperback |
| Edition | New Edition |
Media Reviews
'It would be described as definitive, if its very purpose was not an ongoing attempt to introduce definition to disorder. If this remarkable book is definitive of anything, it is of its dogged, inquisitive, articulate and extremely serious author'
* West Highland Free Press *'frank, fearless and at times ferocious - a remarkable book'
* Herald *'Superlative'
* The Scotsman *'An essential guide to who owns Scotland and why land reform has flowered there in recent years'
* The Guardian (the best books about land and power 2020) *'A more important book about Scottish land ownership has yet to be written'
-- David Ross * Press and Journal *'One of the defining literary and scholarly works of modern Scotland ... it demands to be read if you want to reach an understanding of why Scotland cannot be considered a fair society while prevailing patterns of land ownership persist in our most beautiful places'
-- Kevin McKenna'Wightman is an avid proponent of land reform and newcomers to his writing will find here a comprehensive and powerful set of arguments supporting his positions... This remains a very important, if still controversial, book which deserves to be studied closely. It is well written and cogently argued'
-- Phil Back * Scottish Local History *GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
Andy Wightman was born in Dundee and studied forestry at Aberdeen University. He worked as a ghillie, environmental scientist, and an environmental campaigner before becoming a self-employed writer and researcher in 1993. He is the author of several books, including the best-selling Who Owns Scotland, and a prominent analyst and critic of land reform process. He lives in Edinburgh.