"This book traces the background to the Treaty of Union of 1707, explains why it happened and assesses its impact on Scottish society, including the bitter struggle with the Jacobites for acceptance of the union in the two decades that followed its inauguration. It offers a radical new interpretation of the causes of union. The idea that the Scots were 'bought and sold for English gold' is largely rejected and emphasis is instead placed upon the international, dynastic and religious contexts in which the union was negotiated."--Jacket.