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Herman has charted a fascinating journey across the centuries of Scottish history. Here is the untold story of how John Knox and the Church of Scotland laid the foundation for our modern idea of democracy; how the Scottish Enlightenment helped to inspire both the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution; and how thousands of Scottish immigrants left their homes to create the American frontier, the Australian outback, and the British Empire in India and Hong Kong. How the Scots Invented the Modern World reveals how Scottish genius for creating the basic ideas and institutions of modern life stamped the lives of a series of remarkable historical figures, from James Watt and Adam Smith to Andrew Carnegie and Arthur Conan Doyle, and how Scottish heroes continue to inspire our contemporary culture, from William “Braveheart” Wallace to James Bond. And no one who takes this incredible historical trek will ever view the Scots—or the modern West—in the same way again.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780609809990","publication_date":"20020924","publisher":"Crown","slug":"how-the-scots-invented-the-modern-world","subtitle":"The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It","title":"How the Scots Invented the Modern World"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"HIS015090","confidence_band":"high","label":"Scottish History","score":0.7893,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS010020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Western European History","score":0.7371,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS037090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"16th-Century History","score":0.7127,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"HIS015090","confidence_band":"high","label":"Scottish History","score":0.7893,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS010020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Western European History","score":0.7371,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS037090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"16th-Century History","score":0.7127,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HIS015090","confidence_band":"high","label":"Scottish History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS039000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Civilizations","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS054000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Social History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Scottish History","score":0.7893,"slug":"scottish-history"},{"label":"Western European History","score":0.7371,"slug":"western-european-history"},{"label":"16th-Century History","score":0.7127,"slug":"16th-century-history"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers interested in Scottish history","Readers exploring Scotland's influence on modern democracy"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Alistair Moffat"],"book_id":"9780500297803","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780500297803.jpg?v=1ff114bdcdb192b4","score":0.7325,"title":"Scotland's Forgotten Past","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780500297803"},{"authors":["Magnus Linklater","Fitzroy Maclean"],"book_id":"9780500294727","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780500294727.jpg?v=30505a30128b7af0","score":0.7078,"title":"Scotland","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780500294727"},{"authors":["Alistair Moffat"],"book_id":"9780500297254","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780500297254.jpg?v=b07329ec946f2e76","score":0.6922,"title":"Before Scotland","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780500297254"},{"authors":["Steven Johnson"],"book_id":"9781594633935","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781594633935.jpg?v=ed6e7941a3669ae4","score":0.6784,"title":"How We Got to Now","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781594633935"},{"authors":["Graeme Johncock"],"book_id":"9781803992662","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781803992662.jpg?v=9256dc480ca0e7ba","score":0.6575,"title":"Scotland's Stories","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781803992662"},{"authors":["Alistair Moffat"],"book_id":"9780500290842","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780500290842.jpg?v=4f8225b2f6e335e7","score":0.6549,"title":"The Highland Clans","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780500290842"},{"authors":["Edward Dolnick","Alan Sklar","Audible Studios","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9780061719516","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780061719516.jpg?v=40aafa17f0cc090f","score":0.6529,"title":"The Clockwork Universe","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780061719516"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:world history"],"label":"History","score":0.4536,"slug":"history"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:modern world"],"label":"World","score":0.0848,"slug":"world"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:politics"],"label":"Politics","score":0.0364,"slug":"politics"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:18th century"],"label":"Century","score":0.0323,"slug":"century"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Scottish history, The Scottish Enlightenment, Scots and modern institutions.","Themes: History, Politics, Century.","Reading lane: Scottish History and Western European History."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.91,"pacing":"unknown","reader_fit":["Readers interested in Scottish history","Readers exploring Scotland's influence on modern democracy"],"themes":["Scottish history","The Scottish Enlightenment","Scots and modern institutions"],"tropes":[]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":1845,"goodreads_ratings_count":6871,"goodreads_reviews_count":732,"quality_score":0.9696}}