'Formidable...superb...spectacularly audacious.' -- The Times 'Outstanding...closely argued, cleverly constructed and, best of all, deliciously written.' -- Literary Review 'Sparkles with gripping details...a first-class narrative.' -- Scotland on Sunday 'Attacks and defends the personalities of the past with ferocious and infectious pleasure...Excellent.' -- Glasgow Herald 'Delicious.' -- Daily Mail 'Alive and colourful' -- TLS 'A celebration of an ever-adapting Gaelic society.' -- Good Book Guide 'This is a stimulating account from a journalist-historian covering four centuries, and it certainly shakes a few perceptions.' -- Scottish Life 20051201 'Fry flattens! sacred cows in energetic and elegant prose.' -- Ross Leckie, The Times -- Ross Leckie, The Times 20060722 'Fry is a gentleman and a scholar, and a formidable writer ... a first --class narrative of the Gaidhealtachd.' -- Scotland On Sunday 20060703 'An excellent new book' -- Max Hastings, Daily Mail 20051008

Michael Fry was educated at Oxford and Hamburg. He has been a visiting fellow at Strathclyde and Brown universities, and held other international fellowships. His books include Patronage and Principle, The Dundas Despotism and The Scottish Empire. A popular history, How the Scots Made America, was recently published in New York. He has also written numerous articles and pamphlets on modern Scottish history. He has contributed to most major newspapers and has been a weekly columnist for The Scotsman, The Herald and The Sunday Times. He lives in Edinburgh.