Culloden: Scotland's Last Battle and the Forging of the British Empire

by Trevor Royle

The Battle of Culloden in 1746 has gone down in history as the last major battle fought on British soil: a vicious confrontation between the English Royal Army and the Scottish forces supporting the Stuart claim to the throne. 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 because of 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 we see 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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Scotland, War, Military Fiction, European History, Military History

432 pages, Hardcover

First published February 4, 2016

About the author

Trevor Royle is a broadcaster and author specialising in the history of war and empire. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was a member of the Scottish Government’s Advisory Panel for Commemorating the First World War.

Reviews

[Shaun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for free through a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.

Where to start. The book is titled Culloden but there are only a few pages that describe the actual battle of Culloden itself. The subtitle of "...Forging of the British Empire" is more accurate for what the book is actually about. Sure the pivotal point was Culloden, but perhaps the title should reflect more what the actual book is about. Okay, that's out of the way.

The information in the rest of the book is interesting overall, but the readability is why my rating is low. The topics covered are everything from the British pushing the French out of Canada to the British gaining a stronghold in the Caribbean to their stronghold in India. The book has so much detail in it (it's impeccably researched, with full section of notes) that the detail becomes tedious. It's borderline unreadable there are so many minute details. I don't know how many individuals are named throughout, but each one has their entire history and lineage detailed as well. (If it wasn't each one, it sure felt like it.)

Overall, if you are an extreme history buff, with a love of minute detail, especially about the British Empire in the 1700's then this is the book for you.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread after watching "Outlander." The battle on the Drummossie Moor near Inverness commonly called Culloden after a nearby manor house was one-sided in every way. Bonnie Prince Charlie's army of 5,000 faced a royalist force of almost 10,000 that was well-trained, well-armed, well-fed, and well-led, all of those characteristics being absent on the Jacobite side. The ground was flat, featureless, boggy, and beset by rain and sleet. The Highlander charge, the Jacobite favorite tactic, put Highlander swords in action against muskets, bayonets and grapeshot, and the battle was almost over before it began.

The battle itself is an introduction to a book about the military conflict between the French and the British that ranged over three continents. It is driven by some shrewd judgments about why the British prevailed, though there are longer and more detailed treatments.

[Roma Cordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wanting to learn about the real Jacobite Rebellion and Culloden led me to reading this book.

Its extremely informative not only for detailing the battles but the politics leading up to the battles - The different political and religious forces at work, their aims, motives and loyalties. And how some of the personalities who performed well at Culloden went on to grander military careers afterwards. And how some did not or how they ultimately met their end.

The first half of this book is specifically about what led up to the battle at Culloden, and the Culloden battle itself, and the second half details subsequent wars.

[Kathy]

I had wanted a book on Culloden, to explain in more detail how a destruction of a culture came to be. The battle was brought to my attention in the early years of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Even though Mr. Royle does an excellent job on the history of the subject. The book title doesn't match the bulk of the reading. The battle of Culloden was briefly discussed in the open chapters. The rest of the book talks about England's battles at home and in Canada, India and the emerging colonies. My thought on reading this was if I wanted to know more about the Seven Year's war and the French and Indian war, I would pick up a book on those. I'm a bit disappointed that Culloden didn't get the needed push to keep me interested. I don't recommend this book unless you are interested in the other issues England was engage in at the time.

[Carey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been trying to get through the audiobook for roughly a month and finally made it half-way through - after having to repeat multiple chapters - and so this is where I call it quits. I agree with previous reviews that the title of this book and the actual details inside of it are not really one and the same. Although the title is "Culloden" the battle itself is seemingly more of an afterthought and tracing the author's framing of this topic is beyond confusing. There is an overload of details that are either discussed in never-ending detail, or others briefly mentioned and then alluded to several chapters later with no elaboration. I just feel like the author was a little over-ambitious with too many themes that he was trying to tie together.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information but it seemed the author went to great lengths to make it longer.

[Farah Mendlesohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

From reading the other reviews I gather I'm the only reader actively attracted to the book by the subtitle.

I'm a fan of Royle's, I think his book on the Civil War is the only such book to actively (and successfully) meld military and political history.

In this book Royle traces the events, tactics and brutalities of Culloden and how they shaped the careers of army officers (including some Jacobites) in Quebec, India and on the battlefields of Europe. In addition he shows how attitudes taken into Culloden and in the reprisals* hardened and were applied to the Indigenous peoples of the Americans and to Indians.

If I have a criticism it is that in the section on India he loses sight of civilians, and even while criticising the actions of the British, loses that criticism in his account of careers made and Victorian print and picture book heroes created.

*I do wonder why he didn't at least mention the army in Ireland or go up to the Irish rebellion of 1798 in which mass massacre of civilians was the order of the day.

[Taylor Price · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title of the book is sadly misleading. The subtitle is a much more accurate title for what the book is about. The author makes the point that Culloden was a significant battle because it was the last battle on British soil, helped demonstrate the Hanoverian’s power over Scotland and Britain’s colonies, launched the careers of many British officers in that generation, etc. My biggest problem with this book is that he talks about the careers of this generation of officers for 90% of the book and hardly talks about Culloden or the Scots who fought at Culloden (unless they later fought for the British). The book also has a ton of extraneous detail about random officers and it got way more tedious at times than it already was. The book was extremely well researched and the author really knows his stuff, but I never would have read this book if it had had a more suitable title for its content because I personally am not interested in the military careers of a specific group of 18th century British generals. Because the book has such a highly specific content matter, it really needs a more specific title than “Culloden”.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Culloden: Scotland's Last Battle and the Forging of the British Empire (audiobook)
The battle itself and then the aftermath, then what happened to many of the participants. From the war of independence to conquest of India, intriguing story following the lives of many of the men who fought at Culloden.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book outlines the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 in Scotland, its culminating battle at Culloden, and the effect the military operations of the Rebellion had on the British Army in the second half of the 18th Century. The author tries to make an argument that the Duke of Cumberland, the British military commander who defeated the Jacobite rebels, used this campaign to foster a “Cumberland Ring” in the subsequent Seven Years War (aka the French and Indian War) and American Revolution. The comparison is to the Wolseley and Roberts Rings of the late 19th Century. Though Culloden and the subsequent counter-insurgent operations across Scotland saw many future British leaders take part as young officers, the argument that they developed some sort of common doctrine and were fostered by Cumberland into positions of higher authority is not strong. However, I do appreciate the point he was trying to make and understand how Culloden and associated efforts shaped the outlook on war for many military commanders of future conflicts. Highly recommended for those wanting to know more about the Jacobite Rebellion and other late 18th century British military campaigns. The narratives of the various military operations reviewed in the book are very clear and concise.

[Wendy Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because Culloden was such a short-lived campaign this book is mostly about British imperialism and pretty much how awful the British were. The focus is on imperialism in the Americas, US and Canada, as well as India.

[Becky Tatar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an excellent book, putting the Battle of Culloden within the larger context of the 100+ year war that Britain waged with France during the 1700, and early 1800s. The story is really about how officers under the Duke of Cumberland, who had been with him in Flanders, then at Culloden, went on to win victories for Britain over France in Canada, the Ohio valley, the Caribbean, and India, which would form the basis of Britain's start as a world empire.

This was very good, written for the general lay person. However, and this is a pet peeve with me for history books - NO MAPS! This is just ridiculous, especially when the list of primary and secondary sources is several pages long, and is broken down by geography! This is especially important, since place names changed. Come on, historians, and publishers. Get your act together and add maps to these books.

[Anna C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't a bad book in its own right, but it was very badly mislabeled. Going by the title and the summary on the back of the book, you'd (reasonably) assume this was a book about the Battle of Culloden. Actually it's a book about the generation of imperial British officers who fought at Culloden and then went on to have distinguished (or not so distinguished) military careers in the Seven Years War and India. So maybe 10% of the book is about Culloden and the rest is about the French and Indian War and other engagements. Only I didn't *want to read a book about the French and Indian War.* I had wanted to read a book about the Battle of Culloden, which is why I bought a book called "Culloden."

[Fraser Kinnear · Rating 2 out of 5]

Culloden the battle concludes ~1/3 into the book. Most of this story is about the course of the Duke of Cumberland and his team's subsequent millitary careers fighting in England's various colonial interests. We get long chapters on the French and Indian War and fighting in India.

In a strange gesture of colonial dominance, even a book that's purportedly Scottish history ends up being mostly about England.

[Dylan Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Textbook example of what I'm terming Wikipedia History. Narrative-less, disinteresting, and with little effort made to explain to the reader why (italicized) they should be fascinated by the historical analysis of X event or person.

The title to start us off is a misnomer. Culloden, which is the final battle in the Jacobite uprising in 1746 which saw Scottish rebel highlanders led by their preferred monarch Bonnie Prince Charlie, defeated at the hands of the British led by the Duke of Cumberland, is less than a chapter of the book. Even before that, the book just starts and boom Bonnie Prince Charlie is roaming around Scotland trying to drum up support. Not much analysis why he's doing this, although a previous uprising in 1715 is mentioned and the Stewart dynasty are stated to have existed and in Prince Charlie still exist. Before I'm gonna read about supply lines and the morale of an army and their tactics I'd like to know what they're even trying to accomplish and if the local population even supports them.

Pretending I understand what the hell is happening, I accept that this is going to be a military history book with zero attention to society, economics, culture (kilts are mentioned) or even much politics. Royle (nominatively deterministic) is so eager to tell us about these random officers in the British and Jacobite armies he almost forgets which war he is focused on. He'll mention a supply route of some insignificant force going to some random place and then do a bit of backstory about a random dude in that random brigade and how his uncle fought so and so at such and such 12 years prior. Because it's 18th century Britain there's a global war every 10 years or less for literally the whole century.

Color me surprised when, about 40% into the book, the battle of Culloden is fought. For being a military history book I was shocked to learn so little about the fight itself. My friend had mentioned something about the least favorable clans being in the center to just absorb grape shot as literal cannon fodder but that was not discussed. Maybe 30 pages max and the battle is over without any climax.

The rest of the book is the sneaky subtitle I didn't read called "the forging of the British empire." As if there aren't dozens of books out there called "the forging of" and then some utterly random event that it would be a stretch to call the determinate event that precipitated anything other that book itself. So I'm treated to about a hundred pages of Seven Years War campaigning that isn't bad but is told so blandly and so straightforwardly (Wikipedia like) it's not sticking to my memory and is just melting away, totally frictionless with my brain. Maybe fifty or so pages about Coote and Clive in India (the Seven Years war stuff was following James Wolfe who is pretty cool and was under Cumberland initially) and then mercifully the book ends, fully forgetful of what it started as.

This guy has a bunch of other wars that I'm sure he's researched brilliantly like he did here; however, the function of those books is likely to scratch his borderline obsessive itch for researching everyone in the British Army c.1675-1946. I at least am incapable of deriving anything resembling knowledge or a deeper understanding of history in the format he's elected to go with.

[Simon Dobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's unusual when the history of an event deals with that event one-third of the way through, spends the rest of the book looking at the personal and global consequences of the event – and still feels completely balanced in its treatment.

Culloden was many things, both the last battle fought on UK soil and the source of a great homogenisation of culture across the country. For such a dramatic event, the actual battle was remarkably simple, being fought on the wrong ground by an exhausted Scottish army who clearly never stood a chance (but who might have won had they fought on another day in another place that would have favoured their tactics).

But it's the subsequent lives of the protagonists that really occupies Royle. The soldiers' careers range across what became the British empire, from the American Revolutionary War, through the winning of India, to the eviction of the French from Canada and the re-ordering of the European political landscape. All of these started at Culloden, not least because they involved Highland and other Scottish regiments who'd fought on both sides, integrating the defeated into the army and economic opportunities of the victors.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall "Culloden: Scotland's last battle and the forging of the British Empire" is an a concise take on the influences of the battle fought at Drummossie Moor on Cumberland and his posse of officers as a whole, and the beginnings of the British Empire as can be traced from these military men's experiences from their victory over the Jacobite forces. Like many of the people whose reviews I have read of this book, I was a bit disappointed as I thought this book would look into the battle itself and the influences the fighting had on Scotland as a whole. Instead 'Culloden' touches briefly on the battle and then only draws loose ties to it throughout the rest of the study. This book is great for those interested in the French and Indian War or other wars/battles fought by the British after 1745-1810, but for those interested in the Scottish history and the Jacobite rebellion, it would be better to look elsewhere.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spending much of the summer in Scotland less than 30 minutes from a Jacobite '45 battlefield I decided to pick this up. This is a history of the final Jacobite conflict. The author jumps right into the action with a largely military account of the campaign. For those interested in the '45 there has long been the question of weather or not the Jacobite army should of marched on London when they had the chance. Royle argues against this. In truth the campaign was lost much earlier when many of the English Jacobites (with the exception of Manchester failed to rise), others have blamed the lack of French support, and the author seems content to lay much of the blame on the disagreements between Bonnie Prince Charlie and other leaders. The Battle account, the title of the book is a bit rushed. Conversely, the book spends several chapters following the careers of key participants in their military careers in North America and India long after the battle.

[Craig Flint · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book postulating the premise that the Battle of Culloden in Scotland (the last battle fought on British soil) influenced British global warfare for the following 50 years including North America, India, Europe, The West Indies and the Mediterranean. The leader of that campaign was the Duke of Cumberland (King George II's son) and he and his officers in that campaign were leaders in all the major global British empire campaigns due to his patronage and political influence. This in turn resulted in the successful rise of the British empire in the latter half of the 18th century and also the independence of the American Colonies.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have to agree with other reviewers, the title “ Culloden “does not really reflect the entire contents of the book. However, I did enjoy this read very much as it gives a good review of the entire Seven Years War. Many books here in the United States only deal with the “French and Indian” part of this conflict. Reading this book makes me want to read more of the Indian and European part of the conflict. Which, of course, is a good thing.
I have read several of this authors books and this, like the others, does not disappoint.

[Hannah Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good editor would have changed the title of this book. “British Warfare; Got the hots for Cumbernauld with a smattering of Scottish Rebellions and New World Battles” would have been a much more accurate title.
4 chapters on Culloden and the aftermath in Scotland then.... crickets in America and the European continent. True, it does follow the careers of some of those higher ranking soldiers who fought at Culloden, but it’s not a book dedicated to Culloden as one is led to believe.

[Danny Toma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Trevor Royle, having read his epic work on the Crimean War on a couple of occasions. This is also a good book, but falls a bit short only because the title is rather misleading. Rather than a study of the Battle of Culloden, it places that action in the overall "forging of the British Empire" and really is a history of British imperialism in the 18th Century. With that in mind, it is a fine book, just not what I initially expected.

[L. Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this out because I wanted to learn about the battle of Culloden, which was disposed of in the first hundred pages. The subsequent 260pp explained the European wars of succession, the Seven Years War, the consolidation of British rule over the American Colonies and India with the vanquishing of France, and set things up for the emergence of the United States and of Napoleon. One ot the single most illuminating tomes I've read.

[Andrew Hurst · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anyone thinking that this book is chiefly about Culloden will be disappointed. The Jacobite rebellion is dealt with in the first few chapters and the majority of the book covers the remainder of the 18th century. Although it is well written it deals far more with politics and events of the Seven Years War and on to events in North America.

[Hettie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book surprised me, the big title on the front isn’t particularly relevant to the book? Culloden is over after the first couple of chapters, this book is more about subsequent battles and wars. Bit bizarre

[Captnamerca · Rating 1 out of 5]

A blatant "Bait and Switch" going on here.

If you're looking for a book on the Battle Of Culloden pick something else.

The author spends 1-2 chapters on Culloden then tangents off into extreme detail on what the government army, as a whole and as individuals, did for the next 50 years.

[Andrea Renfrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book but definitely more about "the forging of the British empire" than it is about Culloden. I prefer reading Prebble for this topic. Royle wrote erratically and tried to tackle too much at once, largely neglecting the title of the book to do so.

[Chais · Rating 2 out of 5]

The content of this book is good. However, the title is incredibly misleading. I got this book to learn about Culloden, not the entire history of all officers involved in Culloden. It's detailed on these people to an exhausting point.

[David Akeroyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

The actual battle only makes up a portion of the book before moving on to the latter careeers of the participants and how they shaped the British Empire. Using Culloden as a framing device is interesting but much less interesting than the battle and its aftermath.

[Leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thought it would be more about the build up to the Battle of Culloden. Instead a short intro, a quick history of the actual battle, and then many chapters of epilogue about the growth of the British Empire.