Status Updates From The Proud Servant

This is a completely different (and frankly more plausible sounding) version from that in the documentary, where 'Jamie Graham' tames the ravening horde of Irish raiders by speaking Gaelic to them; here Macdonald and his
men have been summoned by the King as reinforcements from his Irish campaigns, and are simply waiting for their ally to turn up by prior appointment!

The other side of Marston Moor, written before Irwin enlisted us onto Rupert's side in "Stranger Prince": the Prince as a hulking sulky youth with his uncle's beautiful eyes and the same flaws, "childishly personal, and too much concerned with family matters". "Had Montrose had such a letter in Rupert's place, he would have ignored it and given his respectful reasons afterwards for doing so. " Impressive PoV switch.

The book manages to neatly skim over what could have been some pretty stultifying politics (and probably is, in the history books) in terms of character and general emotional arc; a good piece of historical novel-writing. And obviously the author wants to get ahead to the actual 'annus mirabilis' ;-)