Monarchs of Scotland

by Stewart Ross

Describes the lives, reigns, and accomplishments of Scotland's monarchs set against the backdrop of broader Scottish history

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Stewart Ross has written more than 300 titles, fiction and non-fiction, for children and adults. Many are about (or inspired by) history. He lives near Canterbury, England.

Reviews

[Janis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good information in this book. Not too scholarly for non-historians. I didn’t find it terribly readable though. For instance, in the article about Charles I on the 8th page of a 9 page article is “United by a common antipathy towards Charles, the theocrats welcomed Cromwell’s troops into Edinburgh.” But it’s the first time Cromwell is mentioned in the article.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the better all-the-kings-in-one-book efforts. Beginning with the arrival of Celtic invaders from Ireland about 500 AD and the establishment of Dalriada (later "Scotia") in what is now Argyll, the Scots have always been different from the Germanic Anglo-Saxons in some important ways. Subordinate to the numerically superior Picts for the first three centuries, the tribalized Scots finally were united under Kenneth McAlpin about 841, who secured his authority through a combination of charisma, leadership in battle, and political acumen. Very little is actually known of the personal lives of most of the Scots kings until the early 13th century, but thereafter the author summarizes their careers in highly readable semi-academic prose through the House of Stewart, who ruled all of Great Britain, and then follows the Jacobites into exile, ending the story with the debauched alcoholism in his later years of Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, who died in Rome in 1788, and the total lack of interest in Scotland shown by his younger brother, Henry, who concentrated instead on his career as a Catholic cardinal — until he lost all he possessed to Napoleon and had to be rescued from destitution by the Hanoverian George III. Ross also expertly explains such matters as tanistry, the nomination of a successor from among the king’s close male kindred, and carefully distinguishes between provable history and political and dynastic mythology. The numerous portraits and photos include many not often reproduced while a two-page list of "Suggested Further Reading" substitutes for an actual bibliography. A very competent survey.