More often sacked and ravished than any other city thanks to the attentions of its southern neighbour, Edinburgh's fluctuating fortunes have seen it change from being host to ambassadors from all over Europe as Scotland's capital under James VI, to becoming a capital of the mind once Crown and Parliament had departed to London. Edinburgh generated the vitality of the Scottish Enlightenment and for a time became the intellectual centre of Europe. Romantic and picturesque, Edinburgh Genius locii was exemplified in the works of Scott and Burns. In the 19th century Edinburgh came to be characterized by its professions and the fame acquired in the ranks of the law, medicine, architecture and the kirk. Today it is the fourth largest economic centre in Europe. The author reveals the unfamiliar Edinburgh - the history and character of a unique European city. McKean also wrote The Scottish Thirties and Glasgow.