I received a free copy for review from Netgalley.

So, I read and reread this book. No, I’m not saying it’s hard or boring; in fact- this was thoughtful, mostly politically neutral, and highly educational.
I hold a double major in political science and philosophy, so this hits the right spots for me. I appreciated that there was a glossary, but also in- text explanations, so if there is something new, it’s explained rather than needing to be marked, checked and returning to the passage. There are also visuals, a well broken down index at the beginning, and a very clear expectation of what this book is and is not.
This is a book that could be used in conjunction with school texts, but also just as useful for someone interested in the country, or someone considering moving to Scotland.

The clue is more or less in the title. Must have for anyone living in Scotland curious about its politics and statistical information, and probably downright perfect for educators. Hopefully won't require much in the way of revision after March 2019.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy.

As someone who has worked as a Social Studies teacher and currently works for local government in Scotland I was keen to see what this book offered to supplement my existing knowledge.

It covers an impressively vast amount of factual information and statistics about subjects including demographics, geography, language, immigration, energy, wealth and poverty, education, public spending, employment, exports and imports and political systems. Please note - that is not an exhaustive list!

In short, there is a huge wealth of interesting and relevant facts in here for anyone interested in knowing more about Scotland. There are supporting graphs, diagrams and infographics throughout and for the most part the information is accessible and presented without jargon. I also really liked the inclusion of reflective questions and can see these as a useful starting point for discussion in a classroom setting.

It is very number dense which makes sense when you consider the credentials of the author. Stats geeks will love it but it could be off-putting to the less mathematically inclined amongst us as I did find it overwhelming at certain points, the energy chapter in particular.

This book would be very useful for those working in Education, both Secondary School and Further Education settings. It would also be useful for anyone working in a national or local government or journalistic setting. A new immigrant or anyone interested to know more about how Scotland works would also get a lot out of this book.