Bonnie Prince Charlie is celebrated in Scotland as the Young Pretender, Charles Stuart, the hero whose claim to the British throne divided the kingdom and shook the opulent monarchies of continental Europe In this compelling and absorbing biography, Carolly Erickson brings all her masterly skills to bear in telling the story of the motley band of Highland rebels who challenged George III and embraced Bonnie Prince Charlie as their last hope. She tells the story of their crushing defeat, chronicling with bone-chilling accuracy the massacre at Culloden, where women wailed through the silent spring night after the battle, identifying corpses of their loved ones. Erickson follows Charles after the disaster, homeless but seldom friendless, as he lived out his picaresque life on the continent. Tormented by his own inner demons, the boy-hero gradually became an irascible, misogynistic old man, closeted with his memories of the windswept moors of Scotland, still clinging to the belief that he was meant to be king.

'McLynn's splendid and eminently readable biography gives us not Charles the myth but the man ... as he shows, the key to understanding the prince lies in the entanglement of the inner personal drama with the tragedy played on the public stage.' Kevin Sharpe, Spectator In this highly acclaimed biography Frank McLynn brings vividly before us the man Charles Edward Stuart who became known to legend as Bonnie Prince Charlie and whose unsuccessful challenge to the Hanoverian throne was followed by the crushing defeat at Culloden in 1746. The prince was to play out the rest of his career dogged by a sense of failure and betrayal. Yet Frank McLynn argues powerfully that failure was far from inevitable and history in 1745 came close to taking quite a different turn. This insightful study also encompasses some of the other leading players of the era and its significant events, including the Gaeta Campaign, the failure of the Elibank Plot, the effective end of Jacobitism, the Pope's refusal to recognise the prince as 'Charles III' on his return to Rome and the negotiations with Choiseul over the projected French invasion of England. Frank McLynn is a British author, biographer, historian and journalist. He is noted for critically acclaimed biographies of Napoleon Bonaparte, Robert Louis Stevenson, Carl Jung, Richard Francis Burton and Henry Morton Stanley. He is also the author of Fitzroy Maclean and Bipolar, a novel about Roald Amundsen, published by Sharpe Books. Praise for Frank McLynn: 'The definitive biography.' TLS 'Does much to explain the contradictory accounts left to us of the man.' London Review of Books 'Frank McLynn's achievement ... is to give Charles Edward a solidarity and three-dimensional reality that he usually lacks ... His account of the risings themselves is exemplary and he offers the best case yet for the nearness to success of the '45. What is usually seen as the last shiver of an anachronistic and romantic throwback emerges as a genuine alternative to Whiggery and the Act of Settlement.' Brian Morton, TES 'A broad canvas, dealing not only with sober historical truth but with the magic spell that either seduced or repelled Fielding, Sterne, Smollett, Burns, Scott, Borrow, Buchan, Stevenson and a hundred Irish poets...' Diarmaid O'Muirithe, Irish Independent 'McLynn is to be congratulated on a great success, a work ... of mature reflection, acute judgement and great humanity.' Jeremy Black, History 'A readable and fresh study ... thoroughly researched.' Esmond Wright, Contemporary Review 'Packed with fascinating detail.' Denis Hills, choosing his book of the year in the Spectator 'Fitzroy Maclean has found his Boswell in Frank McLynn.' Trevor Royle, Scotland on Sunday 'Most entertaining.' Richard West 'Important, timely and balanced.' Soldier

Bonnie Prince Charlie is one of the best-known and romantic names in Scottish and British history. As with so many legends, the truth is often obscure and the debate continues to rage over questions of his plans to become Charles III, his wish to make Britain a Catholic country, the battle of Culloden, France’s role in the ’45 Rebellion, whether he ultimately proved to be a coward and how he met his end. Few others have really explored Charles’s motivations. By tackling 12 of the most intriguing myths surrounding Bonnie Prince Charlie, and revealing some little-known and astonishing facts, this book casts new perspective on one of the most turbulent times in Scottish and British history. Ten myths about Bonnie Prince Charlie are explored and, through them, we discover why Charles converted to the Church of England, who Charles’s mysterious wife was, why the Duke of Cumberland was not the most ruthless man at Culloden, why Charles rejected the idea of an independent Scotland and the real reason why Charles wanted to take the British throne.

Originally published in 1988, this biography was the result of 15 years research, including unearthing 70,000 letters and documents among the Stuart Papers which had hitherto lain largely untapped. Written in many different languages, some were damaged, written in code, or unsigned and undated. Deciphering them therefore made it possible to gain a new level of insight into Bonnie Prince Charlie as a man, his relationship with his exiled father, the role played by France and the true nature of the events leading up to the bloody campaign of 1745 in which he attempted to win back the throne of his ancestors.

This historical novel recounts the fortunes of an idealistic young Macdonald lad,Ian,from Glenfinnan, who fought in all the battles of the Jacobite Uprising with his menfolk,supporting Prince Charles. After the terrible Culloden defeat, he finds a silver,bejewelled dirk, at the edge of the battlefield,with the initials C.E.S. on the hilt. Convinced it belongs to Prince Charles himself,he sets out on a determined quest across the Highlands to return it to him, with the desire to go on serving him. This takes many dangerous months,following in the steps of the Prince,fleeing from his enemies. Eventually he finds him and carries out several important missions for him. As the Prince is about to set sail on the French rescue ship "L`Heureux",which is to take him to France and freedom,Ian is faced with a terrible decision.