Eleven centuries ago Kenneth the Hardy emerged from a spate of savage battles as the ruler of a united Scotland.
From that hour until Charles Edward Stuart saw Jacobite hopes forever crushed on the battlefield of Culloden, the 'long brawl of Scottish history' was fought to its bitter conclusion.
John Prebble, who writes with respect for England's oldest enemy, looks at the turbulent years of Scotland's independence, when treachery, hand in hand with noble ideals, stalked the glens, and no clan would comprise its pride.