Ever to ExcelAn Illustrated History of the University of St Andrews
£45.00
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Published 30 November 2026
About this book
Celebrates the rich history of University of St Andrews and its town
- Provides an overview of the history of Scotland’s first university, throughout its long history
- Places the story of the University in its local, national and international political, intellectual and cultural contexts
- Based on, and illustrated from, sources within the University’s own historical collections
The University of St Andrews is Scotland’s first university, and one of the oldest in the English-speaking world. Ever to Excel, lavishly illustrated from the University’s rich historical collections, traces over six centuries of vibrant history, placing the University in the context of cultural, societal and political developments from local to international.
Throughout its history St Andrews has wielded influence out of proportion to its tiny size: as the head of the Scottish church until the fiery events of the sixteenth-century Reformation; as a fulcrum of intellectual activity throughout centuries; and still today as a world-leading centre of scholarship.
This new, revised and expanded edition is resplendent with fresh illustrations. It revises the story of the foundation of the University, based on new research, it expands the treatment of the 1950s and 1960s and it includes a new chapter about the University in the twenty-first century.
Table of contents
Foreword, Principal Sally Mapstone
Preface, Norman H. Reid
1. Right out of the blue
2. Foundation and festivity
3. Roots of reform
4. Turmoil and triumph
5. Adversity and endurance
6. Beyond recognition
7. A context transformed
8. Weathering the storm
9. A new millennium
Notes on sources
Index