Together with David Hume and Edward Gibbon, William Robertson was one of the most important historians in eighteenth-century Britain. Although he published most of his books in London, his career was centered in Edinburgh, spanning what is today called the Scottish Enlightenment, a period rich in historical writing. His interests were wide, ranging from sixteenth-century Scotland to Europe of the late Renaissance to the exploration and settlement of the New World to the culture and trade of ancient India. Neither Hume nor Gibbon dealt with such a variety of subjects. Nor did their careers match his in terms of their public roles. Robertson was an ordained minister in the Church of Scotland (with clerical duties including regular preaching) as well as an ecclesiastical and political leader in the Kirk's general assembly; he was at the center of Edinburgh literary life, commenting on manuscripts sent to him by aspiring...