Myth of the Jacobite Clans

The Myth of the Jacobite Clans was first published in 1995: a revolutionary book, it argued that British history had long sought to caricature Jacobitism rather than to understand it, and that the Jacobite Risings drew on extensive Lowland support and had a national quality within Scotland. The Times Higher Education Supplement hailed its author's 'formidable talents' and the book and its ideas fuelled discussions in The Economist and Scotland on Sunday, on Radio Scotland and elsewhere. The argument of the book has been widely accepted, although it is still ignored by media and heritage representations which seek to depoliticise the Rising of 1745. Now entirely rewritten with extensive new primary research, this new expanded second edition addresses the questions of the first in more detail, examining the systematic misrepresentation of Jacobitism, the impressive size of the Jacobite armies, their training and organization and the Jacobite goal of dissolving the Union, and bringing to life the ordinary Scots who formed the core of Jacobite support in the ill-fated Rising of 1745.Now, more than ever, The Myth of the Jacobite Clans sounds the call for an end to the dismissive sneers and pointless romanticisation which have dogged the history of the subject in Scotland for 200 years.

Murray Pittock is Bradley Professor of English Literature at the University of Glasgow, Head of the College of Arts and Vice-Principal. He has formerly held chairs and other senior appointments at Strathclyde, Edinburgh and Manchester universities. His recent work includes Scottish and Irish Romanticism (2008), The Reception of Sir Walter Scott in Europe (2007) and James Boswell (2007). Forthcoming work includes collections on Robert Burns in Global Culture, the Reception of Robert Burns in Europe and the textual edition of the Scottish Musical Museum for the Oxford Burns. He is currently PI of the AHRC Beyond Text project, 'Robert Burns, 1796-1909: Inventing Tradition and Securing Memory'.