Biggest surprise to me in Edinburgh was the emphasis placed on
Walter Scott and
Robert Louis Stevenson compared with the neglect of
Adam Smith. I'm not saying that those two literary men don't deserve a mention, but Adam Smith surely deserves more than a throw away remark on a bus tour? I know it could be just me, but I really think Adam Smith would be more well known to the average American tourist (the target market for much of what's offered on those bus tours) than either Scott or Stevenson. Sure,
Ivanhoe and
Kidnapped are great books, but the
Wealth of Nations, was more influential and has a much greater effect on the everyday life of Americans (and others, obviously) than anything written by Scott or Stevenson.
