Ten years ago, Bess Mowatt promised to guard her newborn cousin from his father, Aleck Maxwell. Called the Reiver Wolf, Maxwell is the scourge of the Scottish marches, and no fit guardian for a child. But when the keep where Bess and the boy live suddenly comes under Maxwell's protection, she has nowhere to hide. Aleck doesn't quite believe the tale he was told, that his son died at birth. His head tells him one thing, and his heart another. While protecting the keep from marauders, he makes a connection with Bess's young charge. But Bess stands in the way, a woman who is also a warrior, a protector who needs his protection. Can he persuade this fiery woman to accept his help? Will a lie told long ago stand in the way of their love?

This fascinating book is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time. In this sense, nearly all Americans are "Albion's Seed," no matter what their ethnicity may be. The concluding section of this remarkable book explores the ways that regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics from 1789 to 1988, and still help to shape attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence, on which differences between American regions are greater than between European nations.

The first comprehensive collection of contemporary published reactions to the writing of William Faulkner from 1926 to 1962, these articles document the response of reviewers to specific works, and chronicle the development of Faulkner's reputation among the nation's book reviewers. It has often been assumed that a poor reception in the popular review publications contributed to Faulkner's lack of commercial success. The material presented here tends to refute that assumption, clarifying the development of Faulkner's literary career and providing a fuller understanding of the part played by book reviewing in the sales, promotion, and success of American literature.

More than 250 years after the Romans left Britain the village of Craster is facing disaster. Bands of reivers from across the Border in Scotland have always posed a threat, and their raids have at times been devastating. But the reivers would not destroy them and thereby lose a source of plunder. With the Vikings it is different. Now the very existence of the village is threatened. The men of Craster must forge alliances with other communities, and train in the arts of war. The Viking raiders must be repelled and reivers defeated. Over 150 years later they would still be telling the story around campfires along the North Shore, and the name of the Dark Lord of Craster would never be forgotten.

Rueckert tracks Faulkner's development as a novelist through 18 novels--ranging from "Flags in the Dust" to "The Reivers"--to show the turn in Faulkner from destructive to generative being, from tragedy to comedy, from pollution to purification and redemption.

All six books in 'Lowland Romance', a series of Scottish historical romance novels by Helen Susan Swift, now in one volume! The Handfasters: Scotland, 1811. Coming from the Highlands to Edinburgh in search of a husband, Alison Lamont finds herself in all sorts of trouble. Thrown out of a fashionable ball for a stolen kiss, she flees from a riot in the notorious Old Town and ends up staying the night with Willie Kemp, an eccentric boatbuilder. While Alison falls deeply in love with Mr. Kemp, her aunt wishes her to marry the obnoxious but rich John Forres. But who left the mysterious footprints outside her cottage, and what secret is Mr. Kemp hiding? The Tweedie Passion: The Scottish Borders, 16th century. Jeannie Tweedie of the Lethan Valley is a woman of her time and place: loyal to her man, and to her family. She is betrothed to Robert Ferguson; a man who others do not believe worthy of her. When the mysterious Yorling kidnaps Jeannie, she discovers a new side to life. Torn between two men, she must find who is most suitable for her. But who is her chosen one, and will she discover her Tweedie Passion? A Turn of Cards: Edinburgh, 1804. Dorothea Flockhart is hiding her past. A woman alone, she avoids men; even the personable Captain Rogers fails to stir her heart despite all his efforts. While Napoleon's armies threaten invasion, Scotland's capital still hosts balls, although the atmosphere is hectic and men don uniform to meet the impending turmoil. Carrying many secrets, Dorothea wends her way through the wynds of Edinburgh. But when a personification of the past returns to recreate the nightmares that have haunted her for a decade, which will triumph: love or fear? The Name of Love: On her 20th birthday, Mary Hepburn - daughter of the local magistrate - learns that she is to marry John Aitken, a much older man. Unhappy with this, Mary walks to the local moor to clear her mind. Instead, she meets and falls in love with the handsome Captain Ferintosh, when he saves her from whiskey smugglers. The situation gets even more complicated when Mary's father arrests Ferintosh. But who is worthy of her love, and what secrets are the men around him hiding? Storm Of Love: Torn between her longtime sweetheart and a charming, affluent new flame, Scottish mill girl Catriona Easson is struggling to choose between her head and her heart. As new connections bloom and old relationships are threatened, Catriona's romantic future seems foggy. With familial and financial hardships clouding her emotions, will Catriona discover true love - despite the path being stormier than ever? To Hunt A Husband: 22-year-old Robyn feels she is fast becoming an old maid. There are some eligible men in rural Midlothian, but Robyn has some competition from her particular friend, Amy. Already engaged to a man she no longer loves, Robyn sets out to hunt for a husband in a countryside racked by social unrest. Could her man be the collier hunted by the police - or the tall golfer? And who is the messenger who seems to appear just when he's not wanted?

The first three books in 'Lowland Romance', a series of Scottish historical romance novels by Helen Susan Swift, now in one volume! The Handfasters: Scotland, 1811. Coming from the Highlands to Edinburgh in search of a husband, Alison Lamont finds herself in all sorts of trouble. Thrown out of a fashionable ball for a stolen kiss, she flees from a riot in the notorious Old Town and ends up staying the night with Willie Kemp, an eccentric boatbuilder. While Alison falls deeply in love with Mr. Kemp, her aunt wishes her to marry the obnoxious but rich John Forres. But who left the mysterious footprints outside her cottage, and what secret is Mr. Kemp hiding? The Tweedie Passion: The Scottish Borders, 16th century. Jeannie Tweedie of the Lethan Valley is a woman of her time and place: loyal to her man, and to her family. She is betrothed to Robert Ferguson; a man who others do not believe worthy of her. When the mysterious Yorling kidnaps Jeannie, she discovers a new side to life. Torn between two men, she must find who is most suitable for her. But who is her chosen one, and will she discover her Tweedie Passion? A Turn of Cards: Edinburgh, 1804. Dorothea Flockhart is hiding her past. A woman alone, she avoids men; even the personable Captain Rogers fails to stir her heart despite all his efforts. While Napoleon's armies threaten invasion, Scotland's capital still hosts balls, although the atmosphere is hectic and men don uniform to meet the impending turmoil. Carrying many secrets, Dorothea wends her way through the wynds of Edinburgh. But when a personification of the past returns to recreate the nightmares that have haunted her for a decade, which will triumph: love or fear?

WINNER OF THE 2010 WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE. Brian Moore, or 'Pitbull' as he came to be known during nearly a decade at the heart of the England rugby team's pack, established himself as one of the game's original hard men at a time when rugby was still an amateur sport. Since his retirement, he has earned a reputation as an equally uncompromising commentator, never afraid to tell it as he sees it and lash out at the money men and professionals that have made rugby into such a different beast. Yet, for all his bullishness on and off the pitch, there also appears a more unconventional, complicated side to the man. A solicitor by trade, Moore's love of fine wine, career experience as a manicurist and preference for reading Shakespeare in the dressing room before games, mark him out as anything but the stereotypical rugby player and in Beware of the Dog Moore lays open with astounding frankness the shocking events, both personal and professional, that have gone towards shaping him over the years. Presenting an unparalleled insight into the mind of one of British rugby's greatest players and characters, Beware of the Dog is a uniquely engaging and upfront sporting memoir, and a deserved winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize.