James Buchan Knihy

"September 1745 and the walled City of Edinburgh surrenders to a handful of Highlanders in farcical circumstances. Never have things looked bleaker for the ancient capital of Scotland. Yet the next two generations catapult this small, windy and dirty city to the centre of the modern world." "David Hume, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, William Cullen and James Hutton transform the way we treat our perceptions and feelings as well as mechanical processes, sickness and health, trade, money, relations between the sexes, the purposes of existence and government. In just fifty years, Edinburgh makes more mental history than any town of its size since the Athens of Socrates. On the hard causeway of the High Street, in high and cramped apartments, surreptitious dancing assemblies and underground taverns, the modern world is born." "How did this come about? How did a notoriously poor, alcoholic, violent and unhygienic town consisting of just two long streets and forty thousand inhabitants make such an impression on its age and on ours? So that Voltaire wrote, with more than a dash of malice, that 'today it is from Scotland that we get rules of taste in all the arts, from epic poetry to gardening'. In an account of exceptionally close focus, James Buchan resurrects the look and feel and smell of eighteenth-century Edinburgh and shows how a succession of disasters demolished old systems of thought and behaviour, and set Edinburgh men and women off in strange new directions. An odd and brilliant civilization comes to life, Capital of the Mind is the indispensable guide to the most beautiful and philosophical city in Europe."--Jacket

Focusing on the moral philosophy of Adam Smith, this narrative challenges the prevalent interpretation of him as the proponent of unregulated capitalism. Instead, it reveals Smith as a philosopher dedicated to ethical theory, emphasizing his vision of a just commercial society. Drawing from extensive research, the author, James Buchan, presents a nuanced portrayal that transcends political and economic agendas, highlighting Smith's commitment to morality in the context of commerce.

Celebrated author James Buchan breathes new life into Adam Smith's legacy and the beginnings of modern economics.The Scottish philosopher Adam Smith (1723 - 1790) has been adopted by neoconservatives as the ideological father of unregulated business and small government. Politicians such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan promoted Smith's famous 1776 book, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, as the bible of laissez-faire economics. In this vigorous, crisp, and accessible book, James Buchan refutes much of what modern politicians and economists claim about Adam Smith and shows that, in fact, Smith transcends modern political categories.Drawing on twenty-five years of research, Buchan demonstrates that The Wealth of Nations and Smith's 1759 masterpiece, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, are just brilliant fragments of one of the most ambitious philosophical enterprises ever attempted: the search for a just foundation for modern commercial society both in private and in public. In an increasingly crowded and discontented world, this search is ever more urgent.

At once a great love story, a riveting political thriller, and a profound analysis of modern Iran, The Persian Bride is unflinching in its vision of twentieth-century chaos. In 1974, the young Englishman John Pitt follows the hippie trail to Isfahan, where he encounters the enchanting Shirin Farameh. These two young people fall desperately in love and marry, despite their cultural differences and the political upheaval surrounding them. When they are tragically separated, John sets off in search of his wife on a nightmare journey that takes him from the corrupt court of the shah to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Novelist Buchan, a former correspondent for the Financial Times, traces the meaning of money since its beginning. He discusses money in its various formats, emphasizing that money itself is not just an object but "an outcome of a vast mountain of social arrangements." Various scenarios depict the role of money in love, war, religion, and other areas of human culture. Buchan uses many historical and literary works to clarify the perception of money throughout the ages, relying on Aristotle, Columbus, Shakespeare, John Law, Marx, and Keynes, to name a few, in these stimulating discussions. Although he writes in a scholarly style, Buchan his many suspenseful and intriguing passages.

Jeddah: 'Bride of the Red Sea'. This is a cosmopolitan city, ancient and modern hub, unique seat of civilisation and meeting point for millions of pilgrims. It is a city without compare. At its core lies a network of old merchant houses, mosques, markets and shaded walkways. Its history is etched on every balcony, dome and minaret. But surrounding the ancient city is a strikingly modern metropolis, built with grace and vision. This book evokes the dual character of the city, capturing in beautiful photographs the essence of its ancient and modern charm.

New Year's Eve, 1746. A castle in the depths of France. A thunderstorm. A pair of lovers in a hay-loft. A wounded soldier toppling from his horse.The astonishing story of William Neilson continues.

In 1720, the young William Neilson leaves Edinburgh to make his fortune in Europe. A romantic and picaresque adventure set in the eighteenth-century in Scotland, France and India.