Book excerpt: [This book] tells the ... story of Scotland's role in forging and expanding the Briutish Empire, from the Americas to Australia, India to the Caribbean. By 1820 Britain controlled a fifth of the world's population, and no people had made a more essential contribution than the Scots - working across the globe as soldiers and merchants, administrators and clerics, doctors and teachers. ... Devine traces the vital part Scotland played in creating an empire - and the fundamental effect this had in moulding the modern Scottish nation."--Back cover.