Set Adrift Upon the World The Sutherland Clearances
Set Adrift Upon the World: The Sutherland Clearances by James Hunter, published by Origin on July 20, 2023, is a comprehensive exploration of a significant historical event in Scotland. This edition spans 620 pages and is presented in English. The book delves into the Sutherland Clearances, a period marked by the systematic depopulation of a Scottish county, detailing the actions and intentions of those who orchestrated this upheaval, as well as the impact on the affected communities.
In this work, Hunter draws from extensive research conducted in various archives across Scotland, England, and Canada, as well as firsthand accounts from the now-deserted areas of Sutherland. The narrative reveals the struggles faced by individuals and families during this tragic episode, highlighting experiences that have often been overlooked in previous accounts. The book addresses themes related to social history and the economic implications of such displacements, providing readers with a nuanced understanding of this complex chapter in Scottish history.
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Winner of Saltire Scottish History Book of the Year 2016
They would be better dead, they said, than set adrift upon the world. But set adrift they were – thousands of them, their communities destroyed, their homes demolished and burned.
Such were the Sutherland Clearances, an extraordinary episode, involving the deliberate depopulation of much of a Scottish county. What was done in the course of that episode was planned and carried out by a small group of men and one woman. Most of those involved wrote a great deal about their actions, intentions and feelings, and much of it has been preserved. There are no equivalent collections of material from those whose communities ceased to exist. Their feelings and fears are harder to access, but they are by no means irrecoverable.
In this book James Hunter tells the story of the Sutherland Clearances. His researches took him to archives in Scotland, England and Canada, to the now deserted straths of Sutherland, to the frozen shores of Hudson Bay. The result is a gripping, moving, definitive account of a people’s struggle for survival in the face of tragedy and disaster which includes experiences which have not featured in any previous such account.
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