This is the first full, modern history of the Jacobite cause in its entirety as it played out in Scotland, England, Ireland, Europe and even America. Based on the latest research, The King over the Water weaves together all the strands of this gripping saga into a vivid, sweeping narrative.

Over the years many myths have built up about one of the founders of the Golden Dawn, Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers. Many of these have been created by those who wish to damn the Golden Dawn and its system of magic or by those who want to naively believe a bogus magical story about the Order and its founders. In King Over the Water, Golden Dawn magician Nick Farrell paints a picture of the founders of the Golden Dawn becoming out of their depth as the Order began to create magicians. Rather than painting Mathers as an eccentric genius, Farrell sees him as an autocratic fantasist. He sees Mathers struggling to keep up as his students rapidly became better than him at the system he created, and shows how he was unable to raise his game to help the Order develop further. In what is a portrait of the problems that could befall any esoteric leader, Farrell (author of Gathering The Magic, a textbook on magical group dynamics) reveals how Mathers' later rituals were an attempt to remove the magic from the system he created so that he could milk it for money. Included are previously unpublished papers from Mathers' own version of the Golden Dawn, the Alpha et Omega, including the original Z documents, the full version of the Book of the Tomb (a key document for creating a Vault of the Adepts), the original method for the consecration of the sword, and much more. King Over the Water is the prequel to Farrell's groundbreaking expose on the Alpha et Omega, Mathers' Last Secret, and provides another look into the mind of a magician that helped develop the magic we use today.

This is the complete biography of the third James Stewart, who was unfortunate from his birth. The slander that he was not really the son of James II. and Mary of Modena persisted long after its absolute falsity had been proved. William of Orange, whose hopes of succeeding quietly to the throne for which he had long intrigued were blasted by the event, and all the enemies of the rightful king did their utmost for years to keep it alive. Sent with his mother to France before his father was forced to abdicate, the young prince was in perpetual peril; the usurper who sanctioned the Massacre of Glencoe would not have hesitated to connive at his assassination. He was a delicate boy, and, indeed, all through his life he suffered from ill-health. There were times when he wearied of the task to which he was in honour bound; but his strong sense of duty held him. We search the chronicles in vain for any justification of the accusations brought against him by Thackeray. He was sincerely religious, scrupulously moral in an immoral age, intelligent, conscientious and faithful to every obligation. He had, of course, the defects of his virtues. He sometimes hesitated where a bold course was essential; he shrank from bringing misfortune to his adherents or shedding the blood of his adversaries; he had not the buoyant temperament and the personal magnetism with which Bonnie Prince Charlie set the heather on fire. Yet he was loved by those who knew him best; and for years Scotland watched in vain for "Jamie" to "come hame." Probably he might have regained his lost throne had he consented to forswear his faith. There is nothing to indicate that he contemplated any subversive designs upon the Anglican Church. But hatred of Romanism was deep rooted among the English people; and however much they might despise the first two Georges they would not consent to be ruled over by a "Papist." James III. had promised the fullest protection to the established faith, and he was one who kept his promises; he was no propagandist, like his father, but rather inclined to Quietism; and yet the dread of Papal aggression inherited from the days of Elizabeth stood in his path. This book is annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.

The fascinating story of a cotton magnate whose voracious appetite for land drove him to create the first big agricultural empire of the Central Valley of California, and shaped the landscape for decades to come. J.G. Boswell was the biggest farmer in America. He built a secret empire while thumbing his nose at nature, politicians, labor unions and every journalist who ever tried to lift the veil on the ultimate "factory in the fields." The King of California is the previously untold account of how a Georgia slave-owning family migrated to California in the early 1920s,drained one of America 's biggest lakes in an act of incredible hubris and carved out the richest cotton empire in the world. Indeed, the sophistication of Boswell 's agricultural operation -from lab to field to gin -- is unrivaled anywhere. Much more than a business story, this is a sweeping social history that details the saga of cotton growers who were chased from the South by the boll weevil and brought their black farmhands to California. It is a gripping read with cameos by a cast of famous characters, from Cecil B. DeMille to Cesar Chavez.

Two kings and two peoples once lived on the island of Innisfail, in harmony with the land and the earth -- though not so peaceably with one another. The arrival of the Gaedhals, from the land of Iber across the sea, shifted this balance and threw the Fir-Bolg and the Tuatha De Danaan into confusion and disarray. In the face of seemingly unstoppable invasion -- and in the aftermath of a great and dangerous gift -- the ultimate fate of their two peoples still remains to be decided. The Druid Sorcha, with the newly appointed queen of the Ravens, must work against those who disrespect and defile their holy land. But Saran, younger son of Brocan, King of the Fir-Bolg, has a quest of his own. He has seen his father's forces struggle and fail, and his brother's birthright diminish as the Gaedhals increase. Saran will do whatever is necessary to see his brother Lom declared king of their people -- no matter what, or who, remains for Lom to inherit.

“An engaging look at the violent struggle of the surprisingly diverse Jacobites... Swift and cinematic with neatly sketched character portraits.” —Financial Times This is the first modern history for general readers of the entire Jacobite movement in Scotland, England and Ireland, from the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 that drove James II into exile to the death of his grandson, Cardinal Henry, Duke of York, in 1807. The Battle of Culloden and Bonnie Prince Charlie’s flight through the heather are well known, but not the other risings and plots that involved half of Europe and even revolutionary America. Based on the latest research, The King over the Water weaves together all the strands of this gripping saga into a vivid, sweeping narrative, full of insight, analysis and anecdote. “Few causes have aroused a more gallant response from the peoples of these islands than the Honest Cause,” writes Desmond Seward, “whether they were fighting for it at Killiecrankie, Prestonpans or Culloden, at the Boyne, Aughrim or Fontenoy, or dying for it on the scaffold.” “Highly readable, with brilliantly rendered characters, and thrilling tales of deceit and espionage.”—Military History Monthly “A bracingly revisionist history.” —Telegraph “Seward's detailed descriptions of the Princes, Princesses, Kings, and Queens create a sense of theatre and allow the reader to fully immerse themselves into the dramatic events of the period . . . an engaging and easy read.” —Scottish Field “A rollickingly, splendidly chronological history.” –Herald “Seward's clear-sighted examination of the Jacobite movement shows how close it came to succeeding.” —Scotsman “This lively book is a welcome addition.” —BBC History