A Time of Tyrants: Scotland and the Second World War

Trevor Royle examines Scotland's role in the Second World War from a wide range of perspectives. The country's geographical position gave it great strategic importance for importing war materiel and reinforcements, for conducting naval and aerial operations against the enemy and for training regular and specialist SOE and commando forces. Scotland also became a social melting pot with the arrival of Polish and eastern European refugees, whose presence added to the communal mix and assisted post-war reconstruction. In addition to the important military aspects - the exploits of the Army's renowned 15th Scottish and 51st Highland Divisions in Europe and North Africa and the role played by the RAF and the Royal Navy from Scottish bases - Scotland was also hugely important as an industrial power house and the nation's larder.

The war also had a huge impact on politics, with national centralization achieved through the creation of the Scottish Office and the Scottish Grand Committee.

With the emergence of the post-war Labour government and the welfare state,nationalism went into decline and the dominance of socialism, especially in the west, paved the way for the command politics which dominated Scotland for the rest of the century. Based on previously unseen archives in the Scottish Record Office, A Time of Tyrants is the first comprehensive history of the unique part played by Scotland and the Scots in the global war to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

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A Time of Tyrants: Scotland and the Second World War

Trevor Royle examines Scotland's role in the Second World War from a wide range of perspectives. The country's geographical position gave it great strategic importance for importing war materiel and reinforcements, for conducting naval and aerial operations against the enemy and for training regular and specialist SOE and commando forces. Scotland also became a social melting pot with the arrival of Polish and eastern European refugees, whose presence added to the communal mix and assisted post-war reconstruction. In addition to the important military aspects - the exploits of the Army's renowned 15th Scottish and 51st Highland Divisions in Europe and North Africa and the role played by the RAF and the Royal Navy from Scottish bases - Scotland was also hugely important as an industrial power house and the nation's larder.

The war also had a huge impact on politics, with national centralization achieved through the creation of the Scottish Office and the Scottish Grand Committee.

With the emergence of the post-war Labour government and the welfare state,nationalism went into decline and the dominance of socialism, especially in the west, paved the way for the command politics which dominated Scotland for the rest of the century. Based on previously unseen archives in the Scottish Record Office, A Time of Tyrants is the first comprehensive history of the unique part played by Scotland and the Scots in the global war to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

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A Time of Tyrants: Scotland and the Second World War

A Time of Tyrants: Scotland and the Second World War

by Trevor Royle
A Time of Tyrants: Scotland and the Second World War

A Time of Tyrants: Scotland and the Second World War

by Trevor Royle

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Overview

Trevor Royle examines Scotland's role in the Second World War from a wide range of perspectives. The country's geographical position gave it great strategic importance for importing war materiel and reinforcements, for conducting naval and aerial operations against the enemy and for training regular and specialist SOE and commando forces. Scotland also became a social melting pot with the arrival of Polish and eastern European refugees, whose presence added to the communal mix and assisted post-war reconstruction. In addition to the important military aspects - the exploits of the Army's renowned 15th Scottish and 51st Highland Divisions in Europe and North Africa and the role played by the RAF and the Royal Navy from Scottish bases - Scotland was also hugely important as an industrial power house and the nation's larder.

The war also had a huge impact on politics, with national centralization achieved through the creation of the Scottish Office and the Scottish Grand Committee.

With the emergence of the post-war Labour government and the welfare state,nationalism went into decline and the dominance of socialism, especially in the west, paved the way for the command politics which dominated Scotland for the rest of the century. Based on previously unseen archives in the Scottish Record Office, A Time of Tyrants is the first comprehensive history of the unique part played by Scotland and the Scots in the global war to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780857900944
Publisher: Birlinn, Limited
Publication date: 10/04/2011
Sold by: Bookwire
Format: eBook
Pages: 416
File size: 3 MB

About the Author

<strong>Trevor Royle</strong> is a broadcaster and author specialising in the history of war and empire. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and is also a member of the Scottish Government's Advisory Panel for Commemorating the First World War.


Trevor Royle is an outstanding historian of war and empire. His books include Facing the Bear: Scotland and the Cold War, The Flowers of the Forest: Scotland and the First World War and A Time of Tyrants: Scotland and the Second World War. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a member of the Scottish Government’s Advisory Panel for Commemorating the First World War.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Preface and Acknowledgements xi

Prologue: The Last Hurrah; Bellahouston 1938 1

1 Here We Go Again 13

2 Phoney War 37

3 Defeat, Retreat and Making Do 65

4 Frontline Scotland 91

5 Scotland's Conscience, Moral and Political 118

6 Total War 145

7 The Arsenal of War 172

8 Home Front 198

9 Sikorski's (and other) Tourists 224

10 Striking Back 251

11 Victory in Europe and the Far East 278

12 Brave New World 305

Epilogue: The Beginning of a New Song 333

Notes 339

Bibliography 359

Index 367

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