Book excerpt: This architectural survey covers one of Scotland's most important periods of political and architectural change when mainstream European classicism became embedded as the cultural norm. Interposed between the decline of 'the Scottish castle' and its revival as Scotch Baronial architecture, the contributors consider both private and public/civic architecture. They showcase the architectural reflections of a Scotland finding its new elites by providing new research, analysing paradigms such as Holyrood and Hamilton Palace, as well as external reference points such as Paris tenements, Roman precedents and English parallels. Typologically, the book is broad in scope, covering the architecture and design of country estate and also the urban scene in the era before Edinburgh New Town. Steps decisively away from the 'Scottish castle' genre of architectureContextualises the work of Scotland's first well-documented grouping of major architects - including Sir William Bruce, Mr James Smith, James Gibbs and the Adam dynastyDocuments the architectural developments of a transformational period in Scottish history Beautifully illustrated throughout with 300 colour illustrations a