Well-researched - and demonstrated- study of the three key battles of the Jacobite rebellion, aftermath and the London-centric reaction, but - as someone who’s knowledge of the history of the time extended to singing the Skye boat song at primary school and with a correspondingly romantic view of the period - somewhat frustratingly light on the historical context of the previous years. Evidently this wasn’t the focus for the author, but personally I’d have found it more helpful than some of the occasional longeurs of passages relating to the cultural reaction to the uprising and its defeat in London society. Personally I found the strongest sections to be in respect of the battles, themselves, with interesting subsequent detail about the punishments meted out to those that took part. I’m afraid I’d have got more from a deeper study of the aftermath in respect of Scottish politics and the impact on the highland community.

I realise one should review the book as written, and not as i’d have liked it to be written, but these areas felt like omissions at the expense of including less engaging material.