Audiobook11 hours
Culloden: Scotland's Last Battle and the Forging of the British Empire
Written by Trevor Royle
Narrated by Tim Bruce
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
The Battle of Culloden in 1746 has gone down in history as the last major battle fought on British soil: a vicious confrontation between the English Royal Army and the Scottish forces supporting the Stuart claim to the throne. 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 because of 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 we see the creation of professional fighting forces.
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 because of 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 we see the creation of professional fighting forces.
Author
Trevor Royle
Trevor Royle is a broadcaster and author specialising in the history of war and empire. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and is also a member of the Scottish Government’s Advisory Panel for Commemorating the First World War.
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Reviews for Culloden
Rating: 3.437500125 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
8 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This well-researched book deserves a mention as it is newly published (at the time of this review, anyway) and it a gem for those interested in this battle. Full disclosure: I became a fan of Diana Gabaldon's after receiving her books as a present, and have been looking in my local library for something approximating a historical discussion of the Battle of Culloden Then I chanced upon this book and read this portion for the historical context. And on so many levels this book applies to fans of Outlander as well as those interested in Scottish clans or in how the British Empire gained its reach starting in large part with this battle.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).