iScot Book Review

MARY EDWARD’S book, Who Belongs to Glasgow?, a documentary history of migration to Glasgow, has reached the point where it almost has its own history. The original publication in 1993 was followed by an updated version in 2008 and now we have this third edition in 2016.

The original version tells the stories of those from many different countries and cultures who, over ten centuries or so, found themselves, for better or worse, in Glasgow. Mary Edward set out to show who had come to the city during this long period, where they had come from, and why they had been driven to flee their homes in the first place. Remarkable and fascinating evidence shed light on Glasgow and slavery, Jewish refugees, and Highlanders and Irish driven out by starvation or venal landlords. The Italian and Polish communities were also covered, as were the Asian and Chinese newcomers to Britain, and ultimately to Glasgow, under the terms of various immigration and nationality acts.