The Highland Clearances

Eric Richards describes the appalling conditions and treatment suffered by the Highland people, yet at the same time illustrates how difficult the choices were that faced even the most benevolent landlords in the face of rapid economic change. The Clearances were the most rugged and painful of many attempted ‘solutions’ to the problem of those who maintain a population on marginal and infertile land. In drawing attention away from the mythology or the hard facts of what actually happened, this book offers a balanced analysis of events which created a terrible scar on the Highland and Gaelic imagination, the historical legacy of which still lies unresolved in the twenty-first century.

Reviews of The Highland Clearances

'Eric Richards is a fluent, lucid writer' – The Herald 'required reading … not to be missed for its fearless And comprehensive grasp of the past and its relevance for today' – Ileach