George Dempster was a giant of a man who became one of the best-known and most deservedly popular Scotsman of his day. He served for thirty years as a Member of Parliament in Westminster and was closely involved with the expansion of British influence and trade across the world particularly in India and North America. This was the age of Empire building and intense rivalry between competing imperial powers, which led to protracted warfare. A lawyer by training, Dempster was at the heart of political and business life and his circle of friends was large and powerful. Yet power did not corrupt him and he was respected by allies and opponents alike, being known as 'Honest George'. Laird of estates at Skibo in Sutherland and Dunnichen in Angus, Dempster's energy was legendary and he used his talents as reformer, innovator, entrepreneur and developer to bring prosperity and jobs to disadvantaged regions of his beloved Scotland. Dempster was more than an observer of history; he made it. This highly detailed biography of a major but hitherto little known figure of the period gives a rare insight into the political life of the Georgian era, covering the growth of British rule in India, loss of North America during the War of Independence and the years of constant conflict with France. The Gentleman Usher, this superbly researched work with its copious illustrations, is an important and authoritative addition to the bibliography of Scottish history of the period.

A biography of a leader of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Armies and Political Change in Britain, 1660 -1750 argues that armies had a profound impact on the major political events of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Britain. Beginning with the controversial creation of a permanent army to protect the restored Stuart monarchy, this original and important study examines how armies defended or destroyed regimes during the Exclusion Crisis, Monmouth's Rebellion, the Revolution of 1688-1689, and the Jacobite rebellions and plots of the post-1714 period, including the '15 and '45. Hannah Smith explores the political ideas of 'common soldiers' and army officers and analyses their political engagements in a divisive, partisan world. The threat or hope of military intervention into politics preoccupied the era. Would a monarch employ the army to circumvent parliament and annihilate Protestantism? Might the army determine the succession to the throne? Could an ambitious general use armed force to achieve supreme political power? These questions troubled successive generations of men and women as the British army developed into a lasting and costly component of the state, and emerged as a highly successful fighting force during the War of the Spanish Succession. Armies and Political Change in Britain, 1660 - 1750 deploys an innovative periodization to explore significant continuities and developments across the reigns of seven monarchs spanning almost a century. Using a vivid and extensive array of archival, literary, and artistic material, the volume presents a striking new perspective on the political and military history of Britain.

Two volumes containing the annual bibliographies of 18th century scholarship published in the Philological Quarterly. "An excellent aid to the student of 18th century literature."—Saturday Review. Volume 2, 1939-1950, includes consolidated index for both volumes. Originally published in 1952. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

'Excellent... It is a tremendous tale - one of the most dramatic in our island's history - and O'Keeffe tells it beautifully' The Times Charles Edward Stuart's campaign to seize the British throne ended with one of the quickest defeats in history: on 16 April 1746, at Culloden, his Jacobite army was overpowered in under forty minutes. Its brutal repercussions, however, endured for years, its legacy for centuries. Paul O'Keeffe follows the Jacobite army from initial victories to calamitous defeat. Exploring the battle's aftermath, he chronicles the Jacobite prisoners paying for their treason on block and gibbet while those granted 'the King's mercy' suffered the fate of forced labour on plantations in the colonies. While Stuart's cause eventually acquired an aura of romanticism, the Jacobite Rising remains one of the most bloody and divisive conflicts in British domestic history, which resonates to this day. 'Detailed, vivid - and not for the faint-hearted' Financial Times 'Fascinating, meticulously researched... tremendous' Daily Mail 'Intensely readable... and vividly written' Neal Ascherson, London Review of Books