Culloden Scotland's Last Battle and the Forging of the British Empire Synopsis
The Battle of Culloden has gone down in history as the last major battle fought on British soil: a vicious confrontation between Scottish forces supporting the Stuart claim to the throne and the English Royal Army. But this wasn't just a conflict between the Scots and the English, the battle was also part of a much larger campaign to protect the British Isles from the growing threat of a French invasion. In Trevor Royle's vivid and evocative narrative, we are drawn into the ranks, on both sides, alongside doomed Jacobites fighting fellow Scots dressed in the red coats of the Duke of Cumberland's Royal Army. And we meet the Duke himself, a skilled warrior who would gain notoriety due to the reprisals on Highland clans in the battle's aftermath. Royle also takes us beyond the battle as the men of the Royal Army, galvanized by its success at Culloden, expand dramatically and start to fight campaigns overseas in America and India in order to secure British interests; we see the revolutionary use of fighting techniques first implemented at Culloden; and the creation of professional fighting forces.
About This Edition
ISBN: |
9781408704011 |
Publication date: |
4th February 2016 |
Author: |
Trevor Royle |
Publisher: |
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Format: |
Hardback |
Pagination: |
432 pages |
Primary Genre |
History
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Recommendations: |
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Trevor Royle Press Reviews
'Trevor Royle is an accomplished military historian of the 17th and 18th centuries, and of the martial Scots generally, and describes the Forty-five with shrewdness and balance ... His prose is lyrical but hardheaded, and the people-centred narrative is always engaging' -- Allan Mallinson Spectator
'[A] refreshing, incisive book ... Royle's vivid narrative resembles a picaresque novel in which the characters are beset by unexpected strokes of good luck and misfortune' -- Lawrence James, The Times
'[An] excellent account ... splendid history' Sunday Telegraph
'Even someone tolerably well-acquainted with eighteenth century history is likely to find much that is new ... Royle tells the story splendidly and makes his argument cogently. His book deserves a wide readership' -- Allan Massie Scotsman
'This lovely, exciting book is the perfect introduction to Culloden and why it matters. Trevor Royle is a lucid, elegant writer who excels at explaining the tactics and techniques of warfare and the dynamics of battle' BBC History Magazine
'An absorbing, fast-paced chronicle' History Revealed
About Trevor Royle
Trevor Royle is an author specialising in the history of war and empire. Latest publications include Montgomery: Lessons in Leadership from the Soldier's General (Palgrave Macmillan) and Bearskins, Bayonets and Body Armour: Welsh Guards 1915-2015 (Frontline). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy, and an Honorary Fellow of the School of History, Classics and Archaeology in Edinburgh University. He was born in India in 1945 and lives in Scotland.
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