Crowded with Genius: Edinburgh, 1745-1789 - eBook

James Buchan is a novelist and critic. He is the author of The Persian Bride, a New York Times Notable Book, as well as Frozen Desire, an examination of money that received the Duff Cooper Prize. He has also won the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize. Buchan is a contributor to the New York Times Book Review and the New York Observer, and a former foreign correspondent for the Financial Times. He lives in Norfolk, England.

“Hugely readable and comprehensive…an utterly compelling and captivating work…An absolute joy to read.” - Irvine Welsh, The Guardian
“James Buchan tells the extraordinary story with a novelist’s narrative zip and brilliant flashes of detail...[A] marvellous book.” - Ferdinand Mount, The Sunday Times
“An extraordinary story…lovingly narrated and superbly depicted by Buchan in this elegant, authoritative work.” - The Observer
“A sparkling and cleverly written book.” - Arthur Herman, The Scotsman
“Entertainingly drawn…Buchan makes difficult subjects accessible and, sometimes, poetic.” - Economist
“A vivid, gripping account ... An involving tale of cerebral passion and humanist achievement.” - Edmund White
“Delightful…Mr. Buchan’s gift for enchanting anecdote may carry some readers off their feet.” - Wall Street Journal
“Buchan writes well and does a fine job arguing for Edinburgh’s disproportionately large impact on 18th century intellectual history.” - Publishers Weekly
“A vigorous and entertaining book. . . . When is improvement achieved without penalty? Buchan’s book is a delightful threnody on its splendours and miseries.” - Paul Johnson, Sunday Telegraph