The idea for this book arose when we were both discussing ways of interpreting the Scottish Revolution of 1638. We realised that one way to approach the problem was to set that event in a longer chronological span that also took in the revolution of 1689. Here we owe a debt of gratitude to the late John Simpson, who taught both of us as undergraduates at the University of Edinburgh and who ran a special subject entitled ‘Scotland in the Age of Two Revolutions’.

Grateful thanks also go to David Stevenson, who kindly convened a conference that we organised, ‘Scotland in the Seventeenth Century’, at which early versions of a few of the chapters below were first presented. It is now forty years since his book The Scottish Revolution, 1637–44: The Triumph of the Covenanters was published in 1973, but the lasting influence of this work and of Professor Stevenson’s subsequent writings on the subject is palpable in the present book.

We are pleased to acknowledge the support of the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh. Boydell & Brewer have been helpful publishers; the guidance of Dr Michael Middeke and of the series editors is much appreciated.

Sharon Adams

Julian Goodare

December 2013