ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to describe the nationalist movement in Scotland and to explain why the Scottish National Party has become such a prominent factor in British politics. It discusses some past accounts of nationalism and the ways in which this might bring certain characteristics of Scottish nationalism to our attention. The book outlines the political and economic history of Scotland from the end of the First World War to the present. It demonstrates that, for Scots, and for less affluent Scots in particular, the difficulties of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s have led to a new feeling for the community of Scotland. The book provides some Scottish institutions which might have been thought to contribute to the growth of nationalism but which have not done so. These institutions are the Church, the Scottish regiments of the armed forces, football, and the Press.
