Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746(18 The Northern World)

This volume deals with the development, implementation and maintenance of Scottish networks in Northern Europe from c.1600-1746. The book contains nine chapters divided into three parts of original and innovative archival reseach. After an introduction providing a theoretical overview of the subject, the first section focusses on the associations of kith and kin, place and nation and confessional loyalty tested in the numerous case studies throughout the book. Section two provides an analysis of Scottish networks in an economic context providing both quantitative and qualitative evidence to describe their success and failures in a variety of situations and locations. The final section provides three meticulously researched case studies of subversive networks including an espionage network operating in Poland on behalf of Sweden, the confessional network of the irenicist John Durie and rounded off with a review of the Jacobite network stretching across Russia, Sweden, Prussia and Rome.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements .. ix Abbreviations .. xi Introduction .. 1 SECTION ONE: NETWORK LINKAGES 1. Kin Networks .. 13 2. Networks of Place, Region and Nation .. 49 3. Confessional Networks .. 84 SECTION TWO: COMMERCIAL NETWORKS 4. Pedlars, Merchant and Consular Networks .. 127 5. Manufacturing Networks .. 170 6. Covert Commercial Networks .. 207 SECTION THREE: SUBVERSIVE NETWORKS 7. Espionage and the ‘Subversive Network’ .. 251 8. Subverting Confessionalism: The Network of John Durie, 1628–1654 .. 280 9. Jacobite Networks in the North 1715–1750 .. 313 Conclusion .. 349 Illustrations Appendix A: Documents .. 355 Appendix B: The Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft .. 367 Bibliography .. 375 Index .. 403

About the Author :
Steve Murdoch, Ph.D. (1998) lectures in Scottish History at the University of St Andrews. His most recent publications include Britain, Denmark-Norway and the House of Stuart: A Diplomatic and Military Analysis (2003), and, as co-editor with Alexia Grosjean, Scottish Communities Abroad in the Early Modern Period (2005).

Review :
‘...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 Society, LIX, 2 (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 'A recent trickle of books linked to the 1707 Union will doubtless become a flood next year when the tercentenary is marked. Despite much over-hyping, however, none of those so far published can match Steve Murdoch’s Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe 1603-1746 (Brill £100), a truly path-breaking study of Scotland’s long-standing forgotten links with the continent and a wonderful example of what can be achieved by several years of sustained research in home and overseas archives. Tom Devine, The Herald, 2 December 2006. Review of the books of the year.