"This new approach to Highland history before the Clearances draws attention to little-studied yet important economic and social processes within the Highland clan system. Robert A. Dodgshon argues for an integrated approach which considers the problems of traditional Highland society, economy and environment together." "Exploring how the different aspects of the clan system - chiefs and kinsmen, landlords and tenants, farming systems, production strategies and marketing - changed over the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, it shows how the character and ideology of clans and chiefdoms are inextricably part of the twin problems of socio-political control and food production."--Jacket.