Bob Harris held a personal chair in British History at the University of Dundee until 2006, since when he has been Fellow and Tutor in History at Worcester College, University of Oxford. He has published widely on eighteenth-century British and Irish political, social and cultural history. His most recent book was The Scottish People and the French Revolution, published in 2008. Between 2011-14, he has been vice chair of the Board of the Faculty of History at the University of Oxford. The late Charles McKean was Professor of Scottish Architectural History at the University of Dundee and considered the pre-eminent historian of Scottish buildings and towns. He is author of: The Scottish Thirties - an Architectural Introduction (Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1987); For a Wee Country: architectural contributions to Scotland since 1840 (RIAS, Edinburgh, 1990); Edinburgh Portrait of a City (Century, London, 1993) and The Making of the Museum of Scotland (NMS, Edinburgh, 2000).

This is an outstanding work of scholarship: it revises the intellectual framework of urban history (including English urban history), and adds nuanced detail and interpretation to a number of Scottish towns which have been overlooked for far too long.'

• Preface; List of Illustrations; List of Tables; List of Maps; List of Abbreviations; Introduction; Part 1: Towns and improvement; Chapter 1: Scottish towns in context; Chapter 2: Urban improvement; Chapter 3: Urban embellishment and public buildings ;Chapter 4: A tale of five towns; Part 2: Society and Culture; Chapter 5: Middling ranks, homes and possessions; Chapter 6: Cultural life: transformation and adaptation; Chapter 7: ‘Community’, order, and the stability of the burgh; Conclusion; Appendix – Improvement Profiles; Bibliography; Index

Bob Harris held a personal chair in British History at the University of Dundee until 2006, since when he has been Fellow and Tutor in History at Worcester College, University of Oxford. He has published widely on eighteenth-century British and Irish political, social and cultural history. His most recent book was The Scottish People and the French Revolution, published in 2008. Between 2011-14, he has been vice chair of the Board of the Faculty of History at the University of Oxford. The late Charles McKean was Professor of Scottish Architectural History at the University of Dundee and considered the pre-eminent historian of Scottish buildings and towns. He is author of: The Scottish Thirties - an Architectural Introduction (Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1987); For a Wee Country: architectural contributions to Scotland since 1840 (RIAS, Edinburgh, 1990); Edinburgh Portrait of a City (Century, London, 1993) and The Making of the Museum of Scotland (NMS, Edinburgh, 2000).

This is an outstanding work of scholarship: it revises the intellectual framework of urban history (including English urban history), and adds nuanced detail and interpretation to a number of Scottish towns which have been overlooked for far too long.'

• Preface; List of Illustrations; List of Tables; List of Maps; List of Abbreviations; Introduction; Part 1: Towns and improvement; Chapter 1: Scottish towns in context; Chapter 2: Urban improvement; Chapter 3: Urban embellishment and public buildings ;Chapter 4: A tale of five towns; Part 2: Society and Culture; Chapter 5: Middling ranks, homes and possessions; Chapter 6: Cultural life: transformation and adaptation; Chapter 7: ‘Community’, order, and the stability of the burgh; Conclusion; Appendix – Improvement Profiles; Bibliography; Index

Bob Harris held a personal chair in British History at the University of Dundee until 2006, since when he has been Fellow and Tutor in History at Worcester College, University of Oxford. He has published widely on eighteenth-century British and Irish political, social and cultural history. His most recent book was The Scottish People and the French Revolution, published in 2008. Between 2011-14, he has been vice chair of the Board of the Faculty of History at the University of Oxford. The late Charles McKean was Professor of Scottish Architectural History at the University of Dundee and considered the pre-eminent historian of Scottish buildings and towns. He is author of: The Scottish Thirties - an Architectural Introduction (Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1987); For a Wee Country: architectural contributions to Scotland since 1840 (RIAS, Edinburgh, 1990); Edinburgh Portrait of a City (Century, London, 1993) and The Making of the Museum of Scotland (NMS, Edinburgh, 2000).

This is an outstanding work of scholarship: it revises the intellectual framework of urban history (including English urban history), and adds nuanced detail and interpretation to a number of Scottish towns which have been overlooked for far too long.'

• Preface; List of Illustrations; List of Tables; List of Maps; List of Abbreviations; Introduction; Part 1: Towns and improvement; Chapter 1: Scottish towns in context; Chapter 2: Urban improvement; Chapter 3: Urban embellishment and public buildings ;Chapter 4: A tale of five towns; Part 2: Society and Culture; Chapter 5: Middling ranks, homes and possessions; Chapter 6: Cultural life: transformation and adaptation; Chapter 7: ‘Community’, order, and the stability of the burgh; Conclusion; Appendix – Improvement Profiles; Bibliography; Index