Culloden - Couverture souple

Prebble, John

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0712668209 ISBN 13 : 9780712668200

Editeur : Pimlico, 2002

A propos du livre

Quatrième de couverture :

'One of our leading historians, whose works...are as scholarly as they are readable.' John Kenyon, Observer

Culloden is the story of a battle and of what followed, the destruction of a way of life and the persecution of a people. There is little in this book about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the other principals of the last Jacobite Rising of 1745 - this is the story of the ordinary men and women involved in the Rebellion, the 'Common Men'. Culloden recalls them by name and action, presenting the battle as it was for them, describing their lives as fugitives in the glens or as prisoners in the gaols and hulks, their transportation to the Virginias or their deaths on the gallows at Kennington Common.

The book begins in the rain at five o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, 16 April 1746 when the Royal Army marched out of Nairn to fight the clans on Culloden Moor. It is not a partisan book, its feeling is for the common men on both sides - John Grant charging with Clan Chatten and seeing the white gaiters of the British infantry suddenly as the east wind lifted the cannon smoke, and Private Andrew Taylor in a read coat waiting for Clan Chatten to read him, likening it to 'a troop of hungry wolves'. Culloden reminds us, too, that many of the men who harried the glens as ruthlessly as the Nazis in Occupied Europe were in fact Scots themselves, and that many men in Prince Charles' army had been forced to join him.

The detail for the story has come from regimental Order Books, from contemporary newspapers and magazines, from the letters and memoirs of soliders and officers, and eye-witness accounts of atrocity and persecution. Culloden is the story not of a Prince but of a people.

'Prebble and Scotland down the years have become as inseperable as oatcakes and whisky. He has...succueeded in giving the Scots a fresh awareness of their past.' David Cameron, Daily Telegraph

'One of Prebble's great strengths is his ability to empathise with his subject matter.' Niall Ferguson, Daily Mail

'Makred by formidable research and passionate commitment to the cause of the poorest.' Andro Linklater, Spectator

Présentation de l'éditeur :

This is the story of ordinary men and women involved in the Rebellion, who were described on the gaol registers and regimental rosters of the time as 'Common Men'. There is little in this book about Bonnie Prince Charlie and other principals of the last Jacobite Rising of 1745. Culloden recalls them by name and action, presenting the battle as it was for them, describing their life as fugitives in the glens or as prisoners in the gaols and hulks, their transportation to the Virginias or their deaths on the gallows at Kennington Common. The book begins in the rain at five o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, 16 April 1746, when the Royal Army marched out of Nairn to fight the clans on Culloden Moor. It is not a partisan book, its feeling is for the 'Common Men' on both sides - John Grant charging with Clan Chatten and seeing the white gaiters of the British infantry suddenly as the east wind lifted the cannon smoke, and Private Andrew Taylor in a red coat waiting for Clan Chatten to reach him, likening them to 'a troop of hungry wolves'. Culloden reminds us, too, that many of the men who harried the glens as ruthlessly as the Nazis in Occupied Europe were in fact Scots themselves. It recalls the fact that many men in Prince Charles' army had been forced to join him. It shows that a British foot-soldier's wish for a sup of brandy on a cold morning before battle is as much a reality as a Prince's pretensions to a throne. The detail for the story told in Culloden has come from regimental Order Books and manuals, from contemporary newspapers and magazines, from the letters and memoirs of soldiers and officers, eye-witness accounts of atrocity and persecution, and the personal stories of the victims themselves. Culloden is the story not of a Prince, but of a people.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Pimlico
• Date d'édition: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0712668209
• ISBN 13: 9780712668200
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 368