The Crown in the Heather

Author: N. Gemini Sasson
Publisher: Cader Idris Press
ISBN: 098271582X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 172

Book Description
(THE BRUCE TRILOGY: BOOK I) Love and loyalty. Betrayal and murder. What is the cost of a crown? In 1290, Scotland is without a king. Two families - the Bruces and the Balliols - vie for the throne. Robert the Bruce is in love with Elizabeth de Burgh, the daughter of an adherent of the ruthless Longshanks, King of England. In order to marry her and not give up his chances of someday becoming King of Scots, Robert must abandon his rebel ways and bide his time as Longshanks' vassal. But Edward, Longshanks' heir, doesn't trust the opportunistic Scotsman and vows to one day destroy him. While quietly plotting his rebellion, Robert is betrayed by one of his own and must flee Longshanks' vengeance. Aided by the unlikely brilliance of the soft-spoken young nobleman, James Douglas, Robert battles for his throne. Victory, though, is never certain and Robert soon learns that keeping his crown may mean giving up that which he loves most -- his beloved Elizabeth. The Crown in the Heather, Book I of the Bruce Trilogy, is free. Other books in the series are Worth Dying For (The Bruce Trilogy: Book II) and The Honor Due a King (The Bruce Trilogy: Book III). To read closely related books, check out Isabeau and The King Must Die. keywords: historical fiction, medieval, king, knight, battle, Robert the Bruce, Scotland, England

The Forest Laird

Author: Jack Whyte
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1429922613
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 661

Book Description
This epic historical novel brings to life the hero of the Scottish Wars of Independence who struggled against the tyranny of the English. In the predawn hours of August 24, 1305, in London’s Smithfield Prison, the outlaw William Wallace—hero of all the Scots and deadly enemy of King Edward of England—sits awaiting the dawn, when he is to be hanged and then drawn and quartered. Wallace is visited by a Scottish priest to hear his last confession. Here, Wallace recounts his own incredible real-life story. We follow Wallace through his many lives—from fugitive to patriot, rebel, and kingmaker. His desperate struggles and victorious campaigns are all here, as are the high ideals and fierce patriotism that drove him to abandon the people he loved to save his country. With far more breadth, detail, and historical accuracy than the Hollywood film Braveheart, Jack Whyte’s masterful storytelling breathes life into Wallace’s tale, giving readers an amazing character study of the man who helped shape Scotland’s identity and future.

Insurrection

Author: Robyn Young
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1444715127
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 482

Book Description
The first book in the Insurrection trilogy, which tells the thrilling story of Robert the Bruce. 1286 A.D. Scotland is in the grip of the worst winter in living memory. Some say the Day of Judgement has arrived. The King of Scotland rides out from Edinburgh into the stormy night. On the road he is murdered by one of his own men, leaving the succession to the throne wide open. Civil war threatens as the powerful Scottish families jostle for power, not knowing that King Edward I of England has set his own plans for conquest in motion. But all is not destined to go Edward's way. Through the ashes of war, through blood feuds and divided loyalties, a young squire will rise to defy England's greatest king. His name is Robert Bruce. Insurrection is the first in an addictive and action-packed trilogy in the tradition of Conn Iggulden, Bernard Cornwell and Manda Scott.

Black Douglas

Author: Nigel Tranter
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 1444741055
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 450

Book Description
It was almost inevitable that in the 15th century the new Scots royal house of Stewart would have to come to a reckoning with the great house of Douglas. Young Will Douglas, the eight earl, was born to vast power, influence - and trouble. And with the boy-king James II on an uneasy throne, and scoundrels ruling Scotland, the death of Will's father plunged him suddenly into a world where might prevailed and the end justified the means. 'Through his imaginative dialogue, he provides a voice for Scotland's heroes' Scotland on Sunday 'He has an amazingly broad grip of Scottish history' Daily Telegraph

Robert The Bruce

Author: Jack Whyte
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1429922672
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 659

Book Description
The acclaimed author of The Forest Laird delivers “a bold, brash tribute to . . . one of medieval Scotland’s fiercest warriors and its most revered king” (Booklist). Robert I, or as he is known to a grateful Scottish nation, Robert the Bruce, was one of Scotland’s greatest kings, as well as one of the most famous warriors of his generation. He led the valiant Scots in the Wars of Scottish Independence against the Kingdom of England. His reign saw the recognition of Scotland as an independent nation, and today Bruce is remembered as a national hero. In this vividly detailed biographical novel, Jack Whyte brings this legend of history to gritty, passionate life. In the late thirteenth century, Robert and his father joined the rebellion against John Balliol, England’s appointed king of Scotland. Thus began his decades-long fight for Scottish freedom. He was a tireless campaigner in both battle and diplomacy. Finally, in May of 1328, King Edward III signed the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, which recognized Scotland as an independent kingdom and Bruce as its king.

A Kingdom's Cost

Author: J. R. Tomlin
Publisher: Albannach Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 318

Book Description
Eighteen-year-old James Douglas can only watch, helpless, as the Scottish freedom fighter, William Wallace, is hanged, drawn, and quartered. Even under the heel of a brutal English conqueror, James's blood-drenched homeland may still have one hope for freedom, the rightful king of the Scots, Robert the Bruce. James swears fealty to the man he believes can lead the fight against English tyranny. The Bruce is soon a fugitive, king in name and nothing more. Scotland is occupied, the Scottish resistance crushed. The woman James loves is captured and imprisoned. Yet James believes their cause is not lost. With driving determination, he blazes a path in blood and violence, in cunning and ruthlessness as he wages a guerrilla war to restore Scotland's freedom. James knows he risks sharing Wallace's fate, but what he truly fears is that he has become as merciless as the conqueror he fights. Keywords: Scotland, Historical Fiction, Black Douglas, Robert the Bruce, William Wallace, Military Fiction, Medieval Historical Fiction, General Fiction

The Wallace

Author: Nigel Tranter
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1444718894
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 444

Book Description
At the end of the 13th century, Scotland was a blood-torn country suffering under the harsh domination of a tyrant usurper, the hated Plantagenet, Edward Longshanks. During the appalling violence of those unsettled days, one man rose to become leader of the Scots. That man was William Wallace. Motivated at first by revenge for the slaughter of his father, Wallace vowed to cleanse his country of the English and set the rightful king, Robert the Bruce, upon the Scottish throne. Though Wallace was a heroic figure, he was but a man - and his chosen path was to lead him through grievous danger and personal tragedy before the final outcome . . . Praise for Nigel Tranter: 'One of Scotland's most prolific and respected writers' Times 'Through his imaginative dialogue, he provides a voice for Scotland's heroes' Scotland on Sunday

The Coming Fury

Author: Bruce Catton
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 9781842122921
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 566

Book Description
Chronicles the history of the American Civil War, starting with the Democratic Party's Charleston Convention in 1860, and ending with first battle of the war at Bull Run.

Mr. Lincoln's Army

Author: Bruce Catton
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504024184
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 519

Book Description
A vivid account of the early battles, first in the Pulitzer Prize-winning trilogy: “One of America’s foremost Civil War authorities” (Kirkus Reviews). The first book in Bruce Catton’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Army of the Potomac Trilogy, Mr. Lincoln’s Army is a riveting history of the early years of the Civil War, when a fledgling Union Army took its stumbling first steps under the command of the controversial general George McClellan. Following the secession of the Southern states, a beleaguered President Abraham Lincoln entrusted the dashing, charismatic McClellan with the creation of the Union’s Army of the Potomac and the responsibility of leading it to a swift and decisive victory against Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Although a brilliant tactician who was beloved by his troops and embraced by the hero-hungry North, McClellan’s ego and ambition ultimately put him at loggerheads with his commander in chief—a man McClellan considered unworthy of the presidency. McClellan’s weaknesses were exposed during the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American military history, which ended in a stalemate even though the Confederate troops were greatly outnumbered. After Antietam, Lincoln ordered McClellan’s removal from command, and the Union entered the war’s next chapter having suffered thousands of casualties and with great uncertainty ahead. America’s premier chronicler of the nation’s brutal internecine conflict, Bruce Catton is renowned for his unparalleled ability to bring a detailed and vivid immediacy to Civil War battlefields and military strategy sessions. With tremendous depth and insight, he presents legendary commanders and common soldiers in all their complex and heartbreaking humanity.

Lord of the Isles

Author: Nigel Tranter
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1444766988
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 451

Book Description
By the power of his sword arm, his dragon fleet and his sheer personality, Somerled Norse Slayer carved an enduring name for himself in Scottish legend. Inheriting his father's shattered thanedom in Argyll in the twelfth century, he enlarged it by courage, initiative, military shrewdness and diplomacy. For decades his navy held the balance of power in the northern seas, and it was he who cleared the Vikings out of the Hebrides. Set against the romantically celebrated West Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland, the story of the conquests and courage of this hero king is a living tribute to a renowned legend. A thrilling story of the Scottish Isles in the 12th century by Nigel Tranter, master of Scottish historical fiction.By the power of his sword arm, his dragon fleet and his sheer personality, Somerled Norse Slayer carved an enduring name for himself in Scottish legend. Inheriting his father's shattered thanedom in Argyll in the twelfth century, he enlarged it by courage, initiative, military shrewdness and diplomacy. For decades his navy held the balance of power in the northern seas, and it was he who cleared the Vikings out of the Hebrides. Set against the romantically celebrated West Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland, the story of the conquests and courage of this hero king is a living tribute to a renowned legend. A thrilling story of the Scottish Isles in the 12th century by Nigel Tranter, master of Scottish historical fiction.