Scottish Books - History
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Bonnie Prince Charlie: Charles Edward Stuart
by Frank McLynn. Frank McLynn pursues this fascinating question in his highly acclaimed study of the 'Young Pretender', whose unsuccessful challenge to the Hanoverian throne was followed by the crushing defeat at Culloden in 1746. The prince was to play out the rest of his career dogged by a sense of failure and betrayal. Yet Frank McLynn argues powerfully that failure was far from inevitable and history in 1745 came closer to taking a quite different turn. 
The White Cockade: And Other Jacobite Tales
by Stuart McHardy. Many of the stories that survive from the period when the Jacobites threatened to overturn the British Government and reinstall the Stuart Dynasty are tales of great daring heroism and loyalty set against venal double-dealing and treachery. Others reflect the ancient tribal practices of the Highland clans, where rivalry and raiding were more important than political loyalty. In this book, Stuart McHardy gathers a wide selection of the best of these tales, creating an insightful and vivid picture of Jacobean life. Tales include: "The Death of Sargeant Davies"; "The Gold in the Great Chanter"; "The Jacobite Heroine Jeannie Cameron"; "The Tragic Tale of Lady Grange"; and "Prince Charlie's Cave." 
Culloden 1746
by Stuart Reid. Culloden Moor is the last and one of the most famous battles in British history. On 16 April 1746 the Duke of Cumberland's government army defeated the Jacobite rebels led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart. In this concise account Stuart Reid, the leading authority on Culloden, sets out in a graphic and easily understood way the movements and deployments of the opposing armies and describes in detail the close and deadly combat that followed. His account incorporates the results of the latest documentary and archaeological research and he provides a full tour of the battlefield so that visitors can explore for themselves the historic ground on which this momentous event took place.
The Scottish Jacobite Army 1745-46 (Elite) by Stuart Reid. This book is the story of Bonnie Prince Charlie's army at Culloden. Beginning with initial recruitment, it will strip away the myth and expose the realities of life in the Jacobite rebellion army, a force which included volunteers, 'pressed men', mercenaries and French forces, sent over to assist as part of the 'Auld Alliance'. Unit organization, weapons and tactics are discussed in depth, as well as the vicious battles that were fought to secure the crown. The wonderful colour plates and rare images illustrate the variety of uniforms that were worn ranging from tartan to regular army dress. This is an essential introductory guide to the Jacobite Armies as well as a definitive guide to the uniforms and weaponry of the period.
Rob Roy (Wordsworth Classics)
by Sir Walter Scott. For the most popular of his Scottish romances, published at the end of 1817, Scott drew on the legends and historical anecdotes about Rob Roy MacGregor he had collected in his youth. By turns thrilling and comic, Rob Roy contains Scott's most sophisticated treatment of the Scottish Highlands as an imaginary space where the modern and the primitive come together. Newly edited from the `Magnum Opus' text of 1829, this edition includes full explanatory notes and a critical
introduction exploring the originality and complexity of Scott's achievement.
This novel is set in the north of England and Scotland in the years before, during and after the first Jacobite rising in 1715. Rob Roy is a swashbuckling chieftain of the clan MacGregor who is forced to become an outlaw for his alleged espousal of the Jacobite cause. 
The Hunt for Rob Roy: The Man and the Myths
by David Stevenson. This is the first life of Rob to written by an experienced historian, based on a full range of sources. The picture that emerges is one of a remarkable life - but not a heroic one. The picture of a man deeply wronged and oppressed, forced into outlawry, has to be modified by the clear evidence that he was only outlawed after undertaking a careful plan to swindle his creditors. The staunch Jacobite is revealed as a man who supplied intelligence to the government against them. The supposed warrior leader never fought in a battle, the reputed great duellist avoided violence whenever possible and is only known to have fought one duel - which he lost. Yet in some ways Rob remains an attractive figure. That he survived, in spite of the odds against him, is a remarkable tribute to his tenacity of both body and spirit - and to his ability to make people like and trust him, accepting his own version of his life instead of that of his enemies. With this book Scotland may lose a hero of the old-fashioned, unreal sort, but it possesses in Rob Roy a man whose true life-story as it emerges is dramatic and human.
William Wallace: Braveheart
by James A. Mackay. Sir William Wallace of Ellerslie, now the subject of a major film, is one of history's greatest heroes, and one of its greatest enigmas - a figure whose edges have been blurred by myth and legend. Even the date and place of his birth have been mis-stated. This biography tells of a man who, without wealth or noble birth, rose to become the Guardian of Scotland. It describes the heroism and betrayal, the valiant deeds and attrocities, and the struggle of a small nation against a brutal empire.
Robert the Bruce: King of Scots by Ronald McNair Scott. Robert the Bruce is one of the great heroic figures of history. When, after years of struggle, Scotland was reduced to a vassal state by Edward I of England it was Bruce who, supported by the Scottish Church and a group of devoted followers, had himself crowned at Scone as King of Scots and renewed the fight for freedom. The author of this book uses the accounts of contemporary chronicles, particularly those of John Barbour, to reconstruct the story of one of the most remarkable of medieval kings. It is a story with episodes quite as romantic as those of King Arthur, but one which belongs to the authentic history of the Scottish nation.
The Highland Clearances
by Eric Richards. In this account of the Highland Clearances of the 18th century, Eric Richards draws attention to the brutal evictions as being one amongst many solutions to the problem of maintaining marginal and unfertile land and reasserts that as we enter the 21st century, we have yet to find a solution. 
The Glens of Silence: The Landscapes of the Scottish Clearances
by David Paterson. During the last years of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth, tens of thousands of Highlanders were forcibly removed from land on which their families had lived for generations. Often evicted in the most autocratic and brutal manner, they were moved to marginal and unworkable areas, often on the coast, while the land from which they were wrenched was given over to large-scale sheep farming. Many were subsequently forced to make new lives for themselves in the Lowlands or colonies after their failure to make any kind of living on such unproductive soil - a dismal situation which was compounded by the potato famine of 1846. Stunning colour photographs depict the actual townships as they are today and the landscapes from which so many were banished, each conveying not only the natural beauty and colour of some of Scotland's most spectacular scenery, but also capturing the spirit of these places that witnessed such traumatic and shattering events.
The Reivers: The Story of the Border Reivers
Clyde
Built 
The
Battle of Prestonpans 1745