Product Description

the definitive biography which had been needed for so long' Caroline Bingham, TLS'does much to explain that contradictory accounts left to us of the man'Rosalind Mitchison, London Review of Books

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #302062 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 656 pages

Synopsis
'Who was this man Charles Edward Stuart who became known to legend as Bonnie Prince Charlie?' Frank McLynn pursues this fascinating question in his highly acclaimed study of the 'Young Pretender', whose unsuccessful challenge to the Hanoverian throne was followed by the crushing defeat at Culloden in 1746. The prince was to play out the rest of his career dogged by a sense of failure and betrayal. Yet Frank McLynn argues powerfully that failure was far from inevitable and history in 1745 came closer to taking a quite different turn.

From the Back Cover
The definitive biography which has been needed for so long...outstanding.' Caroline Bingham, Times Literary Supplement

In this highly acclaimed study, Frank McLynn brings vividly before us the man Charles Edward Stuart who became known to legend as Bonnie Prince Charlie and whose unsuccessful challenge to the Hanoverian throne was followed by the crushing defeat at Culloden in 1746. He argues powerfully that failure was far from inevitable and history in 1745 came close to taking a quite different turn.
'A great success, a work...of mature reflection, acute judgement and great humanity.'
Jeremy Black, History

'Does much to explain the contradictory accounts left to us of the man.'
Rosalind Mitchison, London Review of Books

'McLynn's splendid and eminently readable biography gives us not Charles the myth but the man.'
Kevin Sharpe, Spectator

About the Author
Frank McLynn is currently Visiting Professor in the Department of Literature at Strathclyde University. His most recent books include Carl Gustav Jung (short-listed for the 1997 NCR Award), Napoleon, 1066, Villa and Zapata and Wagons West.

Customer Reviews

Review
This is a superior biography of Charles Edward Stuart; one recent historian (Duffy) remarks that 'it is unlikely to be bettered' and it is hard not to agree with that assessment. The author spends time covering all aspects of Charles' life and does not skate over the years after his escape from Scotland in 1746. This is a sympathetic assessment of Charles. The author attempts some psychanalysis, a topic on which it is not certain he is qualified, and these sections seem to work less well. But a vast array of sources from a number of countries have been employed here, to excellent effect.

There are a few oddities in the details however. The author discusses panic in London in December 1745 and quotes from Horace Walpole, but the reference used is to Walpole writing three months earlier - in December, Walpole's comments are rather different.

Yet for a decent account of the Stuart princeling, this biography shines out.