Scottish History Book - The Reivers: The Story of the Border Reivers

The Reivers: The Story of the Border Reivers By Alistair Moffat

Only one period in history is immediately, indelibly and uniquely linked to the whole area of the Scottish and English Border country, and that is the time of the Reivers. Whenever anyone mentions 'Reiver', no-one hesitates to add 'Border'. It is an inextricable association, and rightly so. Nowhere else in Britain in the modern era, or indeed in Europe, did civil order break down over such a wide area, or for such a long time. For more than a century, the hoof-beats of countless raiding parties drummed over the border. From Dumfriesshire to the high wastes of East Cumbria, from Roxburghshire to Redesdale, from the lonely valley of Liddesdale to the fortress city of Carlisle, swords and spears spoke while the law remained silent.

Fierce family loyalty counted for everything while the rules of nationality counted for nothing. The whole range of the Cheviot Hills, its watershed ridges and the river valleys which flowed out of them became the landscape of larceny while Maxwells, Grahams, Fenwicks, Carletons, Armstrongs and Elliots rode hard and often for plunder. These were the Riding Times and in modern European history, they have no parallel. This book tells the remarkable story of the Reivers and how they made the Borders.

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Scottish History book - Scottish Queens 1034-1714

Scottish Queens 1034-1714 By Rosalind K. Marshall

The lives of the Scottish queens, both those who ruled in their own right, and also the consorts, have largely been obscured and neglected. Rosalind K. Marshall addresses this oversight with a collection of mini-biographies, illuminating the fascinating lives of these unusual women, who all found themselves at the helm of a kingdom, and reacted in very different ways.

One of the earliest known Scottish queens was none other than the notorious Lady MacBeth. Was she really the wicked woman depicted in Shakespeare's famous play? Was St Margaret a demure and obedient wife? Why did Margaret Logie exercise such an influence over her husband, David II, and have we underestimated James VI's consort, Anne of Denmark, frequently written off as a stupid and wilful woman? These are just a few of the questions addressed by Dr Marshall in her entertaining, scholarly study.

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Scottish History book - Companion to Scottish History

Companion to Scottish History By Ian Donnachie; George R. Hewitt

This is a fully updated, revised and extended edition of an authoritative and comprehensive survey of Scottish history from the tenth century to the present day. As well as fully referenced entries and suggestions for further reading, there are also key articles on major themes and issues. An easy-to-use reference work that will also satisfy the browser, this is the perfect source for anyone wishing to understand and explore Scottish history.

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Scottish History book - I Crossed the Minch

I Crossed the Minch By Louis MacNeice

In 1937 Louis MacNeice and his wife Nancy visited the Hebrides in 1937. Following loosely in the footsteps of Johnson and Boswell, MacNeice describes with distinctive candour the people, customs and landscapes of the Hebrides. Alienated from the way of life he encountered in the islands yet utterly fascinated by it, Louis MacNeice provides a unique insight into a now vanished culture and, as such, the book is a fascinating social historical document of Scottish rural life in the late 1930s.

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Book - The Hidden Places of Scotland

The Hidden Places of Scotland has been extensively updated and
contains a wealth of interesting information on the history, the
countryside, the towns and villages and the many places of interest such as
churches, castles, monuments and great mansions. The guide is beautifully
illustrated and explores Scotland in a relaxed narrative style.

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Book - The Battle of Prestonpans 1745

This is the first history of the Jacobite battle fought on 21st September 1745 between the forces of the Hanoverian regime and Prince Charles Edward Stuart, better known as 'Bonnie Prince Charles'. Lieutenant-General Sir John Cope, the leader of the English army, has been ridiculed, in song and in history books, for losing the Battle of Prestonpans - the first major battle of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. His defeat led to the invasion of England, in which the Jacobites almost drove King George II from the throne. But was Cope really to blame? The Jacobite Risings occurred after Parliament ousted King James Stuart in 1688 and installed a new dynasty. Stuart loyalists, many of them based in Scotland, took up arms repeatedly in futile attempts to restore James' descendants. The 1745 Rising, led by Bonnie Prince Charlie, was the last. Martin Margulies traces Scottish history up to 'the '45', describes the sharply contrasting weapons and tactics of the opposing armies, and follows the Prestonpans campaign from the time Charlie landed, almost alone, on the remote Isle of Eriskay through the moment his tiny force destroyed Cope's regulars in an early morning highland charge.

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Book - The Wallace Book

Through his personality, ingenuity and ability, he initiated a resistance movement which ultimately secured the nation's freedom and independence. Yet, Wallace was reviled, opposed and eventually betrayed by the nobility in his own day to re-surface in the epic poetry of the fifteenth century as a champion and liberator. Eventually, his legend overtook the historical reality, a process which has continued for centuries as manifested in modern media and film. A team of leading historians and critics from both Scotland and England investigate what is known of the medieval warrior's career from contemporary sources, most of which, unusually for a national hero, were created by his enemies. His reputation, from the time of his horrendous execution to the present, is examined to ascertain what the figure of Wallace meant to different generations of Scots. Too dangerous perhaps for his own era, he became the supreme Scottish hero of all time; the archetypal Scot who would teach kings and nobles where their duty lay, and who would live free or freely die for the liberty of his nation.

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Book - Clyde Built: The Blockade Runners of the American Civil War

The Blockade of the US's Southern ports during the American Civil War is well known and thoroughly documented, the conflict defined as a massive game of chess between two steely opponents - the aggressive Navy of the Federation and the determined Confederate States. However, this black-and-white interpretation of events neglects the role of Scotland in this historical siege, sidelining the Scots to mere shipbuilders and suppliers. In reality, their role in the Blockade was much more pronounced. The Blockade Runners illuminates the events of the Blockade as viewed and
experienced from Scotland. The shipbuilding industry was overwhelmed at the scale of profit available, and these financial rewards stimulated much ship building activity in the Clyde. Aside from being the principal provider of steamers and armed cruisers to both sides of the American Civil War, the Scots saw further opportunity in promoting private ventures, both on the water and off, as they sent privately owned Blockade runners into the stand-off, and also provided a location for secret agency activity from both sides. The ideological conflict unfolding between American anti-slavery supporters and anti-abolitionists also spread to the other side of the Atlantic and forced the Scots to examine their own values, polarising opinions and forcing the individual to reassess their position on the most basic human rights.

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Book - Hugh Miller: Stonemason, Geologist, Writer

Hugh Miller was born in 1802 in Cromarty, Ross-shire. He started his working life as a stonemason's apprentice; he later became a social commentator and crusader. His was a household name in his lifetime, not only in Scotland but across the English-speaking world. With the benefit of recent research for the 2002 conferences, this biography does full justice to the self-educated man, a figure of renown in the 19th century, whose literary genius and scientific acumen still resonates in the 21st.

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Book - The Scottish Mountains

The Scottish Mountains
by Hamish Brown (Author), Alan Gordon (Illustrator)

Scotland's Mountain landscapes are among the most striking and fragile in northern Europe. Their magic casts a spell over all who come to behold them. This astonishing collection of panoramic photography captures the physical power of Scotland's mountains, and their ever-changing beauty. Veteran mountaineer Hamish Brown provides introductory texts to each of the mountain regions.

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