The constitutional and religious settlement in Scotland after the revolution of 1688 largely determined the nature of Scottish politics and of Anglo-Scottish relations up to the union of 1707. King William and the Scottish Politicians examines the making of this revolution settlement and demonstrates how, in conjunction with William's attitude to the kingdom, it led to the misgovernment of Scotland at least until the king's death in 1702.
The book analyses the development and character of the divisions in Scottish politics as they appeared during the Club's campaign and over such issues as religion, Glencoe, the Darien venture and the maintenance of a standing army. These political crises are shown to be not so much the cause of the splits in the parliament as the outcome of them.