History of Clan Campbell from its earliest documented existence in 1263 to the present.

Tracing its origins back to the great Somerled, Raymond Campbell Paterson charts the steady ascent of Clan Donald to the zenith of its power in the 15th century, when the Lords of the Isles controlled much of the Hebrides, as well as extensive parts of the mainland, including the vast earldom of Ross. So powerful had the clan become that it was even able to challenge the authority of the Scottish Crown at the Battles of Harlaw and Inverlochy and plan to partition Scotland with Edward IV of England. Pride was followed by destruction, and James IV finally deposed the last Lord of the Isles in 1493. But under the chiefs of Clanranald, Glengarry, Sleat, Keppoch, Dunyveg and Glencoe, the various branches of the clan. Large and small, continued for many years to fight for their own independence and the independence of the old Gaelic world. The former enemies of the house of Stewart, they ended among the last of its defenders. Long vanished as a territorial power, the past glory of Clan Donald continues to be remembered to this very day.

'Sons of the Wolf' and 'Children of the Mist' were names given to the Gregarach or Clan Gregor after they were driven from their ancestral glens and forced to live as 'broken men' or outlaws. In sixteenth century Scotland, clans held their lands more by power of sword than by written title, but in the latter half of the century the pattern of ownership began to change. The powerful and fiercely ambitious Clan Campbell embarked on a period of acquisitive expansion. Ronald Williams tells the story of their ruthless and systematic harrying of the MacGregors in all its cruel and bitter detail. This was no less than the intended extermination of an entire clan.

Volume 1 of this history ended with the chief and his followers dead on Flodden field. Volume 2 describes the Clan's recovery. Within five years Colin, 3rd Earl, was Vice-Regent and Lieutenant of the kingdom. Within five decades the Clan had extended their possessions to the Western Isles, reinforced their Highland dominance, and become the most powerful family in the nation. How they managed to remain so for a century and a half, despite everything history could throw at them, is the subject of Alastair Campbell's fascinating, vivid and well-paced narrative.Religious conflict in Scotland during almost the whole of the period was devastating. The Crown vacillated between Reformed, Episcopal, and Catholic doctrine whether it was based in Edinburgh or, after 1603, in London. With one exception by contrast the Campbell chiefs held firm to the Protestant Reformation. In 1556 Colin, 4th Earl, invited John Knox to preach at Inveraray; 90 years later Archibald, 8th Earl and first Marquess of Argyll, led the Army of the Solemn League and Covenant. Late in the sixteenth century, however, a crack appeared in the remarkable unity of the Clan: a nationwide conspiracy involving the Campbells of Glenorchy, Lochnell, and Ardkinglas, led to the death of the Bonnie Earl of Moray, the murder of Campbell of Cawdor, and two attempts on the life of 'Grim-faced Archie' the 7th Earl who subsequently turned Roman Catholic and in 1617 left to serve the King of Spain. Again, however, the Clan recovered. One of the conspirators, Black Duncan Campbell of Glenorchy, scourge of the MacGregors, even received a royal pardon and a Baronetcy. Alastair Campbell describes the onset of the religious and civil wars in the seventeenth century. The greatest figure in Scotland then was the first Marquess of Argyll, an ardent Protestant, who was pitted against the charismatic cavalier, the Marquess of Montrose. On behalf of church and crown in Scotland each led governments and armies against one a

The ruthless enforcer of Scotland’s most powerful clan, Jamie Campbell will use any means necessary to vanquish lawlessness and unrest among the feuding Highland clans. Seduction is a game as easily played as subterfuge, but when Jamie poses a as suitor to a rival clan’s daughter in order to expose treason, the line between duty and pleasure is suddenly blurred. Ebony-haired, ruby-lipped Caitrina Lamont defies him, denies him, and arouses him like no other woman. Caitrina has no intention of forsaking her beloved father and doting brothers for a husband–especially a hated Campbell. But Jamie’s raw, sensual strength and searing kiss melt her resistance. When her idyllic world is shattered, Caitrina’s only hope to save her clan lies in the arms of Jamie Campbell, the enemy she holds accountable for its ruin. Can their tenuous truce, born in the velvet darkness of passionate nights, forge a love as strong as the sword that rules the Highlands?