What would America have been without the Scots? Andrew Carnegie, the humble weaver’s son who went there to become the world’s richest man, thought it might have been ‘a poor show’. This book is an unapologetic celebration of what he was proudly talking about – little Scotland’s huge human contribution to the cultural identity of the Big Country.
Author Rick Wilson profiles an intriguing selection of Scottish innovators who have projected their genius, energy and inspiration across the Atlantic. Wilson brings to light an array of Scots ranging from the 14th-century nobleman Henry St Clair who believed to have discovered America before Columbus, through to the first private eye, Allan Pinkerton, to the photographer Harry Benson, who has captured no fewer than ten US presidents for posterity.
Scots Who Made America also features non-residents who have contributed from afar, but whose influence has been no less potent for that – people like Sean Connery, Tony Blair, J.M. Barrie and Robert Burns.
Rick Wilson grew up in the same small-town street where David Buick, founder of the Buick car company, was born. As a journalist he has worked not just on daily newspapers in London’s Fleet Street but also in the Netherlands and his native Scotland as a magazine editor.
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