Scotland was an active - albeit junior - partner in the British Empire. But the poorer and more marginalised parts of Scottish society shared something of Ireland's experience of being at the receiving end of British Imperial power. This created a long-lasting, complex, and eloquent debate among Scottish novelists about the nature of Scotland's involvement in the power-structures of British society.Some Scottish writers, such as Sir Walter Scott and John Buchan, did much to generate and promote Imperial Britain's sense of itself, and these authors tended to be part of the Scottish elite....

Heroic, radical and at times hilarious, Queen Hynde is Ossian with jokes; but Hogg's epic has serious purposes in mind. Its picture of the ancient Scottish past has much in common with stories of King Arthur and Camelot; and Queen Hynde aspires to emulate Paradise Lost as a Christian epic.

James Hogg (1770-1835) is increasingly recognised as a major Scottish author and one of the most original figures in European Romanticism. 16 essays written by international experts on Hogg draw on recent breakthroughs in research to illuminate the contexts and debates that helped to shape his writings. The book provides an indispensable guide to Hogg's life and worlds, his publishing history, reception and reputation, his treatments of politics, religion, nationality, social class, sexuality and gender, and the diverse literary forms - ballads, songs, poems, drama, short stories, novels,...