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shelfimprovement's review against another edition
So here's a fun story.
In 2015, I was in Scotland on my honeymoon. We were driving from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, and my husband suggested that we stop at Dunnottar Castle because he'd seen it in a travel guide and thought it looked awesome perched on this cliff above the North Sea. And he was right; my photography skills can't even do this thing justice:
While we were walking around the ruins, I noticed a sign describing how the castle had been owned by the Keith Clan before they forfeited it in the Jacobite Rebellion in 1715. I thought it was funny because my grandmother's maiden name was Keith and I knew I had Scottish ancestors. A few weeks later, I mentioned the sign to my father over the phone. It was mostly in jest, but I also knew he'd done some genealogy research on that side of the family. He whipped out a book he had bought about the Keith family ancestry--and on the flyleaf was a drawing of Dunnottar Castle.
So here's what we think we know: my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was James Keith. He seems to have lived a few miles from Dunnottar Castle, fought for the losing side in the Battle of Culloden, and was sent to the colony of Virginia as an indentured servant. He might be related to the Keiths who lived at Dunnottar--but we're not sure how, because we don't know for sure who his father is. Either way, I want to learn a little bit more about Culloden and the Jacobite Rebellion so I can learn a little more about my family history :)
In 2015, I was in Scotland on my honeymoon. We were driving from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, and my husband suggested that we stop at Dunnottar Castle because he'd seen it in a travel guide and thought it looked awesome perched on this cliff above the North Sea. And he was right; my photography skills can't even do this thing justice:
While we were walking around the ruins, I noticed a sign describing how the castle had been owned by the Keith Clan before they forfeited it in the Jacobite Rebellion in 1715. I thought it was funny because my grandmother's maiden name was Keith and I knew I had Scottish ancestors. A few weeks later, I mentioned the sign to my father over the phone. It was mostly in jest, but I also knew he'd done some genealogy research on that side of the family. He whipped out a book he had bought about the Keith family ancestry--and on the flyleaf was a drawing of Dunnottar Castle.
So here's what we think we know: my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was James Keith. He seems to have lived a few miles from Dunnottar Castle, fought for the losing side in the Battle of Culloden, and was sent to the colony of Virginia as an indentured servant. He might be related to the Keiths who lived at Dunnottar--but we're not sure how, because we don't know for sure who his father is. Either way, I want to learn a little bit more about Culloden and the Jacobite Rebellion so I can learn a little more about my family history :)
mickbordet's review against another edition
2.0
This book should probably have been called "Dettingen and Fontenoy and the Forging of the British Empire", but I guess that would not have sold as many copies. The focus is on the group of officers present at Culloden, most of whom were also present at the other battles, so there's lots of political shenanigans, old-school-tie appointments and people making bad decisions costing thousands of lives being promoted thanks to nepotism and the good old English class system. Of all the books I have read about the Jacobite rebellion (and there have been a few), I would say this one spends the least time actually going into detail about Culloden, despite the title, though it is the first that takes such a strong view from the Hanoverian side of the battle.
So, in essence, this is a book about how a gang of entitled thugs (Scottish and Irish as well as English) learnt how to stamp down a whole culture, starting with genocide and tying it up with self-serving laws to ensure the pockets of the English aristocracy remained well-lined, then applying the same ideas in North America and India. We get very little insight into the impact of the peoples affected and lots of 'justification' that it was all for the best in the long run.
All in all, though I did learn more than I previously knew about American history, the book left a very unpleasant taste.
So, in essence, this is a book about how a gang of entitled thugs (Scottish and Irish as well as English) learnt how to stamp down a whole culture, starting with genocide and tying it up with self-serving laws to ensure the pockets of the English aristocracy remained well-lined, then applying the same ideas in North America and India. We get very little insight into the impact of the peoples affected and lots of 'justification' that it was all for the best in the long run.
All in all, though I did learn more than I previously knew about American history, the book left a very unpleasant taste.
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