Magnus Magnusson - Scotland: The Story Of A Nation

I am just into the first few chapters of this book and it's already evident how detailed Magnusson's understanding of Scottish history truly is. He leaves no stone unturned, and he fuses myth and fable into a contemporary understanding of Scotland's past. He is a master story teller, akin to the greats like Sir Walter Scott. I especially liked the description about Kenneth MacAlpin and the subsequent fusion of the two fabled, ancient Dark Age people the Picts and the Scotti through Kenneth. Magnus states that he is half Pict, half Scot, inheriting both kingship of the two peoples (his father king of Dal Riata, the kingdom of the Scotti, and matrilineal succession from his Pictish mother, who is a daughter of a Pictish King) ruling both and ultimately fusing both empires. Magnus also seeks to portray the Vikings not as savage 'antichrist' pirates, but a people who were extremely beneficial during the dark ages to society and technology, and an advanced civilization who played a key part in the construction of Scotland.