The first edition of this book argued that British history had long caricatured Jacobitism rather than understanding it, and that the Jacobite Risings in fact enjoyed extensive Lowland support and had a national quality within Scotland. Though the author's argument has been widely accepted, it is still ignored in the media and in heritage representations which hope to depoliticise the Rising of 1745. Now rewritten with extensive new primary research, this expanded second edition addresses the questions of the first in more detail, examining the systematic misrepresentation of Jacobitism, the i ... More

The first edition of this book argued that British history had long caricatured Jacobitism rather than understanding it, and that the Jacobite Risings in fact enjoyed extensive Lowland support and had a national quality within Scotland. Though the author's argument has been widely accepted, it is still ignored in the media and in heritage representations which hope to depoliticise the Rising of 1745. Now rewritten with extensive new primary research, this expanded second edition addresses the questions of the first in more detail, examining the systematic misrepresentation of Jacobitism, the impressive size of the Jacobite armies, their training and organisation, and the Jacobite goal of dissolving the Union. It fleshes out the lives of the ordinary Scots who formed the core of Jacobite support in the ill-fated Rising of 1745. Now, more than ever, this book is essential to putting an end to two hundred years of misinformation and pointless romanticisation.