The hollow drum - Arnold Kemp

Since the war Scotland has been profoundly altered. Its native tradition of entrepreneurial capitalism has disappeared. Its heavy industries have rapidly declined. It has become a branch economy soliciting international investment. Its crowded old cities have spread themselves into the country dormitories. The grip of the Kirk has been much weakened. The Conservatives have slumped from a historic high-water mark in 1955 to their present low ebb. The Nationalists come and go but Labour's strength seems geological.;For 100 years and more Scotland has agitated for some form of home rule. The cycle has repeated itself at intervals. It elicits promises and placatory responses from governments. It has produced a steady increase in administrative devolution. The Grand Committee has been tarted up more times than Mae West. But still a Scottish parliament eludes us. Arnold Kemp has written a personal history of the post-war period. He uses his experiences as an editor and journalist as a starting point for discussing themes which he considers both in their historical context and their modern implications, in a style that is at once anecdotal and analytical.