Product Description

'You are hereby ordered to fall upon the rebels, the MacDonalds of Glencoe, and to put all to the sword under seventy.' This was the treacherous and cold-blooded order ruthlessly carried out on 13 February 1692, when the Campbells slaughtered their hosts the MacDonalds at the Massacre of Glencoe. It was a bloody incident which had deep repercussions and was the beginning of the destruction of the Highlanders. John Prebble's masterly description of the terrible events at Glencoe was praised as 'Evocative and powerful' in the "Sunday Telegraph".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50436 in Books
• Published on: 1973-01-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Customer Reviews

cruel is the snow
Another excellent book well worth purchasing with the customary novel style one associates with Prebble's historic texts which include the equally enjoyable 'Culloden' and 'The Lion in The North'.
The colour and imagination Prebble uses in his descriptions bring characters such as the giant chief of the Glencoe MacDonalds, 'Macian' to life for the reader as well as his descriptions of the settings which match the language used by Prebble for beauty.On the darker side, the savagery of inter-clan wars of the 17th century may be an eye-opener to some and the idea held by some that this was a Campbell atrocity is put to bed.
As with other books by Prebble, this is the 'common-mans' viewpoint of events seen through an impartial eye although he does show sympathy for the victims of the massacre for obvious reasons. Sympathy is also deservedly shown to the Campbells who had suffered through the depredations of some of the Clan Donald and Prebble ably points out that the massacre may well have been worse had it been assigned to a Lowland regiment such as the fanatical Cameronians.All is not sorrow and sympathy however and Prebbles excellent wit and descriptions of characters such as the slippery Earl of Breadalbane and the proud MacIan with his tail of prickly clansmen are done with an ironic,dry humour which lightens the sometimes inevitable gloom.

A well detailed and tragic story
An example of the brutality meted out to the Scottish people down the ages. Obviously some saw the tiny highland village as an example to be made, particularly after the clan armies had risen and met their end at Culloden. This is only a small part of a long and tragic history, and although distant, Prebble describes in horrific detail the sufferings they endured.

book
delivery was very speedy and the book was a better quailty than described many thanks