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Sto caricando le informazioni... Culloden: Scotland's Last Battle and the Forging of the British Empiredi Trevor Royle
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The Battle of Culloden has gone down in history as the last major battle fought on British soil: a vicious confrontation between Scottish forces supporting the Stuart claim to the throne and the English Royal Army. But this wasn't just a conflict between the Scots and the English, the battle was also part of a much larger campaign to protect the British Isles from the growing threat of a French invasion. In Trevor Royle's vivid and evocative narrative, we are drawn into the ranks, on both sides, alongside doomed Jacobites fighting fellow Scots dressed in the red coats of the Duke of Cumberland's Royal Army. And we meet the Duke himself, a skilled warrior who would gain notoriety due to the reprisals on Highland clans in the battle's aftermath. Royle also takes us beyond the battle as the men of the Royal Army, galvanized by its success at Culloden, expand dramatically and start to fight campaigns overseas in America and India in order to secure British interests; we see the revolutionary use of fighting techniques first implemented at Culloden; and the creation of professional fighting forces. Culloden changed the course of British history by ending all hope of the Stuarts reclaiming the throne, cementing Hanoverian rule and forming the bedrock for the creation of the British Empire. Royle's lively and provocative history looks afresh at the period and unveils its true significance, not only as the end of a struggle for the throne but the beginning of a new global power. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
Discussioni correntiNessunoCopertine popolari
 Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni...GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)941.1072History and Geography Europe British Isles ScotlandClassificazione LCVotoMedia: (3.36)
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And another full disclosure: I have not read the entire book, as the British nation-building does not resonate with me right now. However, the portion I did read is fantastic and difficult at the same time. The build-up to the Battle of Culloden is well-researched and the Battle of Prestonpans is also included in the research as it bears a close bearing on the events of the larger Battle. The personalities of the Duke of Cumberland, second son to King George II, and Bonnie Prince Charlie are researched from historical accounts, as are the make ups of both armies including their positions on the field on the day of this historical battle. And that brings me to what is difficult to read in this book: the amount of death that happens in a very short space of time, the killing of the survivors and the wounded survivors after the Battle, and the retributions of the clan society in the months after the Battle are hard: these were real people who were dehumanized by the winners, suffered a complete destruction of their homes and their societal structure, and were killed in a brief battle in ways that war always brings. What struck me about the post-battle portions were the ways in which Royle is able to shine a light on how the defeated enemy was dehumanized as a tactic that is not shared in this current age, and also how the clan structure was the last part of feudal Europe that had ended in the centuries before (not class structure, but feudal society). (