Scotland: A Concise History

The Scots, said a censorious English member of Parliament in 1607, have not suffered above two kings to die in their beds these two hundred years.

He may have exaggerated, but undeniably Scotland has a rough and bloodstained history. It is a complex one too, but Sir Fitzroy Maclean has disentangled the threads, and enlivened his brisk account with both wit and scholarship. Pictures from authentic contemporary sources illuminate his story – its romantic figures and bloody battles, its politics and religion – and provide a rich visual record of Scotland’s art, craftsmanship and intellectual life.