Culloden
Scotland's Last Battle and the Forging of the British Empire
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1.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
The Battle of Culloden has gone down in history as the last major battle fought on British soil: a vicious confrontation between Scottish forces supporting the Stuart claim to the throne and the English Royal Army. But this wasn't just a conflict between the Scots and the English, the battle was also part of a much larger campaign to protect the British Isles from the growing threat of a French invasion.
In Trevor Royle's vivid and evocative narrative, we are drawn into the ranks, on both sides, alongside doomed Jacobites fighting fellow Scots dressed in the red coats of the Duke of Cumberland's Royal Army. And we meet the Duke himself, a skilled warrior who would gain notoriety due to the reprisals on Highland clans in the battle's aftermath. Royle also takes us beyond the battle as the men of the Royal Army, galvanized by its success at Culloden, expand dramatically and start to fight campaigns overseas in America and India in order to secure British interests; we see the revolutionary use of fighting techniques first implemented at Culloden; and the creation of professional fighting forces.
Culloden changed the course of British history by ending all hope of the Stuarts reclaiming the throne, cementing Hanoverian rule and forming the bedrock for the creation of the British Empire. Royle's lively and provocative history looks afresh at the period and unveils its true significance, not only as the end of a struggle for the throne but the beginning of a new global power.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British military historian Royle (Crimea: The Great Crimean War, 1854 1856) explores how the 1746 Battle of Culloden destroyed Bonnie Prince Charlie's dreams of a Stuart restoration but prepared the British army for subsequent successes in implementing Britain's imperial ambitions. Inspired by lingering controversy over the heavily mythologized Scottish battleground, Royle places the battle in the context of the English/Protestant/Hanoverian rebuffing of French/Catholic/Jacobite rebellion. His main purpose is addressing Britain's significant military achievements over the course of the post-Culloden generation. Rather than presenting a litany of battles, Royle intersperses clear logistical and strategic discussions with biographical sketches to flesh out the redcoats' four-decade-long expansion around the globe. British opponents in North America, the Caribbean, and India receive due attention and respect, but the work persists as a largely appreciative look at the British Army. Royle acknowledges that British soldiers committed acts of brutality and terror in multiple locations, but also puts these horrific events into historical context. In addition, he provides lucid explanations of how poor decisions (initially by the British), bad luck, and staff disagreements affected the outcome of each major battle in this period for either side. Culloden's importance to Scotland's fortunes has never been doubted; Royle now demonstrates that its relevance to decades of British global supremacy cannot be questioned.
