Loch Lomond & The Western Isles - September 13-19, 2009

Jean Plaidy, a prolific writer of historical fiction who is also known as Victoria Holt to her legion of fans, weaves an intriguing tapestry of historical fact and fiction that will hold the reader in its thrall. This is the story of a king who desired nothing more than to be a just and wise ruler. That King is Edward I of England. Edward I, happily married to Eleanor of Castile, would inherit an unhappy and nearly bankrupt kingdom upon the death of his father, Henry III, whose profligate wife, Eleanor of Provence, Edward's mother, had incurred the enmity of the people for her lavish spending and the ensuing heavy taxation. Edward's fervent wish was to put to right all that was wrong. His was to be a reign which saw prosperity for his people. Edward I would declare the first Prince of Wales, his son Edward II, who, unfortunately would grow up to disappoint his father. Edward I viewed his son as a dissolute weakling, and he disdained his son's relationship with Piers Gaveston, who was rumored to be his son's lover. He feared for England, as he felt that his son and heir had little judgment. Edward I died, leaving England in the very hands of he who would prove himself unfit to rule.

Nearly 300 years after the Scottish parliament voted itself out of existence in 1707 as the ruling classes in Edinburgh and London forged a marriage of convenience, history has come full circle: in July 2000, the first Scottish parliament in nearly 300 years will convene amid a growing movement for partial autonomy or even independence from England. Devine, director of research at the Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen, charts Scots' ambivalent relationship to Britain, from 1700 through the Victorian era, when Scottish pride rested on identification with union and empire, to disillusionment with England during the Thatcher years and the new service-based economy of the 1990s. Since the mid-19th century, Scotland has been one of the world's most urbanized societies, with the vast majority of its people living in the industrialized Lowlands, not in the Highlands romanticized by Robert Burns and others. His explores how Scottish national identity has continually refashioned itself, from the 18th-century Enlightenment, which spawned Adam Smith and David Hume, to the adaptive creativity exemplified by poet Hugh MacDiarmid, architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and even rock bands like the Proclaimers.

Lucid, witty, and unafraid of controversy, Magnusson's book does a fine job of condensing a complex history, stretching out for 10 millennia, into a single volume. This overly heroic history of Scotland focuses almost exclusively on royalty and warfare. Loosely patterned after Sir Walter Scott's Tales of a Grandfather (1827-1829), Magnusson's narrative purports to describe Scotland from the Stone Age to the present. Yet his omissions are breathtaking. We're treated to a dozen pages about the Battle of Falkirk (wherein England's implacable King Edward I defeated William Wallace in 1298) and its aftermath. But Magnusson never mentions Scotland's central role in the Industrial Revolution, when Glasgow emerged as a global industrial center. He does emphasize some crucial themes in Scottish history: its constant struggle with hegemonic England, the problems of royal succession and how they led to national instability, and the bloody conflict between Church and State, especially during the reign of the Stuarts. Former chairman of the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland, Magnusson deftly describes Scotland's geopolitical heritage. He also works hard to dispel some myths, taking particular aim at the film Braveheart and Shakespeare's Macbeth.

This is a great read for anyone interested in Scottish history or enjoyed the Gibson movie “Braveheart”. MacKay has little material to work with from the time period. Most of his research is taken from material that dates well after Wallace's death. He does a good job telling what probably did happen. MacKay points out several places where in the future new records may be found where Wallace may have visited Pope Boniface VIII looking for aid for Scotland. It is known as a fact that King Edward did get a letter from the Pope about his treatment of the Scots. Wallace's wife was not killed before he began his raids. She was killed in fact while protecting Wallace. Let the movie make you wonder ~ the book will fill in the gaps.

This is part guide book, part travel essay and is a great read about and follows the history of Wallace. This is a great book for those who want to learn a quick history of William Wallace, as well as a guide to memorials in Scotland.

An engaging time-travel romance, the second of a trilogy, that animates the people and politics of a pivotal period in history--while turning up the heat between an appealing modern heroine and a magnetic romantic hero. It's now 1968, and Claire Beauchamp Randall has returned to Inverness, Scotland, with her daughter, Brianna. This is Claire's first visit back since she and husband Frank visited 22 years before--when she walked through a Druid stone circle into the middle of the 18th century. Now, Frank is dead, and Claire hopes to learn what happened to the second great love of her life--gallant Jamie Fraser, laird of Lallybroch whom she married during her journey into the past. She's also looking for a way to tell Brianna who her real father is. Framed by these dilemmas, the bulk of the story consists of the second installment of Claire and Jamie's adventures. Escaping the English death sentence passed against Jamie, they flee to prerevolutionary Paris, where they secretly work at foiling Bonnie Prince Charlie's efforts to regain the Scottish throne. But this espionage is only the beginning...A most entertaining mix of history and fantasy whose author, like its heroine, exhibits a winning combination of vivid imagination and good common sense.

Home to one of the world's great arts festivals, the capital of Scotland is a city of contrasting moods and atmospheres. Rising from the volcanic ridge that runs from the Castle Rock to Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh is a combination of living history and vibrant modernity. The historic fastness of the Castle presides over the classical sweep of the New Town, the eccentric charm of the Old, the affluent haughtiness of the West End, and the whimsical respectability of the Southside. Gothic, Georgian and Modernist rub shoulders in this eclectic city, while literature, the visual arts, music, and drama have all flourished through the ages. From the glories of the Royal Mile to the gritty reality of Leith, this book reveals the many faces, past and present, of a great world city.

Kidnapped remains one of the classic coming-of-age stories. After the death of his father, David Balfour sets out to meet his uncle and claim his inheritance. This adventure takes him through the highlands of Scotland where he embarks upon a long journey back from treachery and deceit.

Rife with unexpected plot twists, Druid lore and sparkling humor, Moning's latest time-travel romance, returns to the Scottish Highlands for another romp between an ancient laird and a modern lass. Gwen Cassidy's hopes of finding a man crumble when she realizes that her much-anticipated tour of Scotland is a senior citizen expedition. Frustrated, Gwen decides to hike the breakneck hills of Loch Ness alone, and she ends up falling down a ravine and awakening Drustan MacKeltar, a Scottish lord who has been slumbering for 500 years under a gypsy's spell. Although Drustan is bewildered by the modern century, he is not puzzled by his feelings for Gwen. Her passionate heart and brilliant mind intrigue him, and he enlists her aid to return to the 16th century. Once back in Drustan's time, their struggle to save his people alters history and results in a surprising denouement. There's much that's fun here, both in characters and situations, but detail-oriented readers may be distracted by the novel's many anachronisms: for example, Gwen has coffee in bed in 1518 even though coffee wasn't available in England until the 17th century. Nevertheless, Moning's snappy prose, quick wit and charismatic characters will enchant.

An excellent collection of extremely funny and light hearted stories. The outstandingly inimitable Para Handy, with his crew of mischievous miscreants, Dan MacPhail, The Tar, Dougie and Sunny Jim sail from port to port on the western seaboard of Scotland in their old puffer 'The Vital Spark'. Carrying a bewildering assortment of cargos to distant outposts such as Tobermory, Port Ellen, Lochgilphead and Castlebay the crew meander peacefully at their own speed regardless of the urgency of the senders and recipients of the cargos. Along the way they meet various adventurers such as Hurricane Jeck and never resist the opportunity to put ashore for a relaxing pipe and dram, especially if there should be a relation or impending dance in the area.

This early nineteenth-century classic, which tells the story of the Robin Hood of Scotland. In rich prose and vivid description, Rob Roy follows the adventures of a businessman's son, Frank Osbaldistone, who is sent to Scotland and finds himself drawn to the powerful, enigmatic figure of Rob Roy MacGregor, the romantic outlaw who fights for justice and dignity for the Scots. This is an incomparable portrait of the haunted Highlands and Scotland's glorious past.

A fast paced easy to read account of one of the greatest military leaders in history. Robert the Bruce is not always appreciated in America because he lacks the Hollywood image that Mel Gibson has lent to William Wallace. Wallace was no doubt a great hero of Scotland but it was Bruce who not only defeated the English but posed a very real threat to actually annex English territory. Bruce's early decisions during the Wallace wars are explained by Scottish politics. Bruce's grandfather had laid claim to the Scottish throne
but Edward I decided in favor of John Balliol, Lord of Galloway. Wallace always fought in the name of King John making it very hard for any of the Bruce faction to lend their full support to the cause. Once he established himself as King, Bruce faced the same problem from the Balliol faction. This divided state of affairs could very well have doomed Scotland had not Bruce taken action. He began with an action that seems to have haunted him for the rest of his life when he struck down the "Red" Comyn on the alter of Greyfriars church. Slowly the rest of the Balliol faction was subdued until Bruce was the unchallenged King of Scots.

The ancient warrior and farming clans of the Scottish Highlands were brutally forced from their land during what came to be known as the Highland Clearances. This book documents dates, places, names, and numbers and rejects the idea that this move was somehow a benevolent act.

A fascinating biographical account of Samuel Johnson mainly based on his letters. It elegantly entwines the details of his personal life with that of his career.

The start of Rankin's overly complex 18th book to feature Edinburgh's Insp. John Rebus. Ben Webster, a Scottish delegate to the Group of Eight summit, dies suspiciously a couple of days before the world's leaders gather in Scotland in 2005. While his colleagues are preoccupied by ensuring security at the conference, Rebus is devoting his energy to the murder of Cyril Colliar, a recently released violent sex offender. No one really cares about the case except for Rebus, and that's mainly because Colliar was muscle for Edinburgh's crime boss "Big Ger" Cafferty, with whom Rebus has tangled in earlier novels. Rebus is more than willing to flout authority in his dogged pursuit of Colliar's killer, who may be a vigilante intent on punishing rapists. Rankin deftly captures the mad circus—the media, the security, the demonstrators—of the G8 summit, but this background muddies the narrative waters.

A reference book for people who wish to visit any of Scotland’s smaller Islands. The detail on history, mapping, wild life, plant life, harbors, anchorages all add up to a great resource every day on the boat. The authors own drawings and paintings are so true to the place.

This popular trilogy features Tranter's Lords of Misrule, A Folly of Princes, and The Captive Crown. This compelling collection of novels reveals how the House of Stewart managed to cling to power, despite being a family torn by hatred and jealousy. Chief among the Stewart's enemies were the Douglases, and when the second Earl of Douglas was slain at the Battle of Otterburn, the Stewarts were suspected of foul play. The deadly rivalry between the two houses was to remain undiminished for the next two generations.

Best-known of his thrillers (made into a popular movie by Alfred Hitchcock), John Buchan introduces his most enduring hero, Richard Hannay, who, despite claiming to be an "ordinary fellow," is caught up in the dramatic and dangerous race against a plot to devastate the British war effort. In this, the only critical edition available, Christopher Harvie's introduction interweaves the writing of the tale with the equally fascinating story of how John Buchan, publisher and lawyer, came in from the cold and, via The Thirty-Nine Steps, ended the war as spymaster and propaganda chief.

The hilarious story of wartime bootlegging in the Scottish highlands, in this classic comic wartime novel. Whisky Galore tracks the effects of a whisky shortage, and then a whisky surplus, on the fictional islands of Great and Little Todday, in the Scottish Hebrides, during World War II. A tale told with a tremendous love for the people and the heritage of the Hebrides.