Product Description

The Royal Scots are Scotland's oldest infantry regiment, with a tradition that stretches back to 1633. This first concise history of the regiment is based largely on the recollections of several generations of Royal Scots - men like Private McBane, who carried his three-year-old son into battle at Malplaquet, and Private Begbie, the youngest soldier to serve in the First World War. These first-hand accounts take the reader through the great wars of the eighteenth century, when Britain was a rising global power, through the setbacks and the triumphs of the Napoleonic Wars and on to the glorious years of the nineteenth century. The two world wars of the twentieth century saw the Royals expand in size, and there are full accounts of its meritorious service on all the main battle fronts. More recently, the regiment has been involved in operations in the Balkans and Iraq. In 2006, in one of the most radical changes in the country's defence policy, the Royal Scots will be amalgamated into the new Royal Regiment of Scotland. Royal Scots is, therefore, a timely celebration of the British Army's most venerable regiment, right of the line and second to none.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #149425 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

About the Author
Trevor Royle has built up an outstanding reputation as a historian of war and empire. His recent books include The Civil War: The War of the Three Kingdoms 1638-1660, Patton: Old Blood and Guts and the ground-breaking Crimea: The Great Crimean War 1854-1856. He lives in Edinburgh.

Customer Reviews

An affordable regimental history
Many may have said it would have been impossible to produce a hardback edition of a volume featuring the history of this famous regiment for under thirteen pounds, however the author in conjunction with Mainstream have done this and have been successful in providing readers with an excellent value for money volume that will prove to be useful for all types of research ranging from local and family history through to medal collecting. It will of course be invaluable for those studying a wide range of conflicts spanning a period of over 370 years!

The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) also known in the past as the 1st Regiment of Foot and "Pontious Pilates Bodyguard", is the oldest regiment in the British Army. Tracing its history back to 1633 when 1200 men were recruited in Scotland to serve under Louis Xlll of France, the regiment gained its first battle honour at Tangier in 1680 and between then and its amalgamation into the new Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006 went on to earn a further 148 honours, therefore re-confirming its valuable contribution to the nation's heritage.

This excellent volume - the first concise history of the regiment ever published, features a wealth of useful information covering campaigns that include the regiment's service in North America and the West Indies, through to South Africa and India and both the Great and Second World Wars and more recently, their operations in the Balkans and Iraq. The very readable narrative is supported by many excellent black and white and colour plates, together with a very handy appendix featuring the regiment's battle honours, Victoria Cross holders and regimental affiliations too.

This volume is without a doubt a must for researchers, however I would say that any former member of the regiment or their families together with future recruits into the new regiment will not want to be without a copy and lets face it,its most affordable!