This an account of the distinctive story of Scottish politics, from the collapse of Liberalism, the rise of radical Labour and of the Scottish National Party, to more recent Tory rule and the complexities of contemporary nationalism. The Scottish question is unlikely to go away, whether it is a clamour for devolution or independence. This book aims to answer a number of questions - could Scotland survive economically without England?; where does the fervour for Scottish home rule come from?; and what would a Scottish parliament mean for the Scot in the street?