Description

Barnes and Noble [Published Date: 1995]. Hardcover, 284 pp. Reprint edition. Very good in very good dust jacket. Black Paper over Boards with black cloth and gold lettering on spine. Light scuffing to edges of covers. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked. Dust jacket has light bumping to edges and light overall scuffing. Now in an archival-quality (removable) Brodart Cover. [From jacket flaps] The Story of the Stewarts and their Scotland is that of a dedicated and conscientious dynasty striving to defend its inheritance against family intrigue and ambitious neighbors. In this immensely readable and entertaining survey of Scottish history from the fourteenth century to the reign of James VI and I, we see how this remarkable family gained the throne of the Kingdom of The Scots in 1371, after six of its members in succession had held the position of High Steward of Scotland. Scotland's progression towards nationhood, however, was beset with internal rivalries and jealousies. Even after independence had been asserted, the Scottish Kings waged a constant struggle to maintain it first against the later Plantagenets and then against the powerful Tudors, sometimes expressed in bitter encounters on the border, sometimes alleviated by intermarriage between the two houses. This latter conflict reached its climax with the confrontation of two forceful personalities - the vivacious Maw Queen of Scot (who changed the family name to the more familiar Stuart) and the superb politician Elizabeth I: an episode full of conspiracy and murder in the best Scottish tradition. Finally we see the resolution of the Tudor-Stewart contest in the union of the two crowns under James VI and I. Throughout we see the shifting alliances between Scotland and France, Scotland and England, England and France, as the dynasties struggled to maintain the balance of power.