Social Change in the Age of Enlightenment: Edinburgh 1660-1760

This comprehensive study of Edinburgh during a century of social transformation offers unparalleled detail on the ways in which urban life was transformed. Chapters on social relationships, the use of space, the place of the poor, religious values, riot and popular protest, and political economy build up to a powerful argument about social change. Houston's broader contribution is to explain how changes in social attitudes and values took root in a century that witnessed dramatic political, economic, and intellectual developments.