With less than a year to go before the Independence Referendum, Professor Murray Pittock, Vice Principal and Head of the College of Arts at the University of Glasgow, has authored and will present an analysis of the origins of Scottish nationalism in a landmark series of broadcasts for BBC Radio 4.

BBC Radio 4 Trail

The programmes, which will be aired from Monday 4 to Friday 8 November at 1345-1400, will explore how the arguments developed over Scotland’s position from before and after the Union with England, the contribution made to the rise and development of the British Empire and forward to the SNP government of today.

Professor Pittock said “This is the story of Scottish nationalism, which doesn't begin with the SNP but goes back centuries. Understanding where Scotland has come from as a country can help us all have a better idea of where it may go in the future, whether inside or outside the present United Kingdom.”

The producer of The Roots of Scottish Nationalism is David Stenhouse: “In the run up to Scotland’s Independence Referendum in September 2014, listeners throughout the UK are paying close attention to Scotland’s history and politics. Murray Pittock’s comprehensive and concise history of Scottish Nationalism tells the story with wit, verve and wisdom.”

Professor Pittock has previously analysed the rise of Scottish nationalism in his book The Road to Independence: Scotland Since the Sixties (Reaktion Press, 2008). A new and expanded second edition, with a forward by the First Minister Alex Salmond MSP, will be available in February 2014.


First published: 24 October 2013