Antonia Fraser - Mary Queen Of Scots

Mary Stuart was born at Linlithgow Palace in 1542. She was part of the House of Stuart, who came into power through bloodlines to the House of Bruce. Both houses of Bruce and Stuart are of Norman origin. Mary actually spoke French and French was also spoken by the royalty of Scotland and England thanks to the Norman invasion of 1066. She married Lord Darnley who was also a relative, a half cousin. She had one of her advisors murdered, David Rizzio, an Italian, by Darnley and some of his followers. What followed was a very secretive and intriguing real-life murder mystery, involving the murder of her husband, Darnley, in a payback to the murder of Rizzio, who was also rumoured to be the father of her child, who was the eventual king of Scotland and England, Ireland and Wales, James I and VI. She was eventually executed due to this partaking in this murder conspiracy.

Carl Von Clausewitz - On Wellington: A Critique Of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo heralded the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, by an alliance of several states including Britain and Prussia called The Seventh Coalition. Many Scots were to fight against the French, and the Scots had a profound influence on the armies during this time. The percussion cap was a Scottish invention; it allowed muskets to fire in the rain, so you could imagine that to be lethal. The first breech-loading rifle was invented by a Scotsman named Patrick Ferguson and was used in the American Revolutionary Wars. There were tactics used in the Battle of Culloden where the Jacobites would parry the bayonet out of way to the Jacobite's left, and strike with his right hand with the Scottish Broadsword. The redcoats knew that the Jacobite's right arm and chest would be vulnerable, so each redcoat would bayonet to his right to capture the Jacobite without his targe shield protecting him. This tactic like many tactics of the British Military was devastating, and of course, there were many Scots fighting in the lines for the British.

Sir Walter Scott - The Heart Of Midlothian

Sir Walter Scott is a very fascinating figure; he effectively invented the historical novel. He had polio at a young age, and at school met Robert Burns once, and what a meeting of minds that would have been. He became a lawyer and had a rich understanding of human rights; this may have played a part in his writings. He owned a small castle and once had a very small detachment of soldiers. He collected antiquarian lore and old Scottish History relics like the real pistol of Rob Roy, and I believe he owned a William Wallace relic also. Sir Walter Scott also was a very early sort of journalist because he was the first non-soldier on the scene of Waterloo and wrote some vivid poetry of the battle scene. A very spectacular monument to his memory is in Edinburgh and it is astonishing.

Carl Von Clausewitz - Napoleon's 1796 Italian Campaign

The young and relatively unknown Corsican led his army to success over the Austrian and Sardinian armies, and it is within these pages that von Clausewitz expresses his prowess as a refined military tactician. Napoleon coincidentally was inspired by the Jacobite rebellion as a method of revolutionary warfare in order to achieve political gain with not much in the way of resources. Napoleon is a somewhat intriguing character, hailing from Corsica he was from a somewhat rich family, but his heart and mind were with the working class and him, like many other revolutionary commanders, saw war and to arm the people to gain political leverage, as a way of social and political change. Napoleon hails from Corsica, and Ajaccio specifically and these people the Corsicans are renowned for being fiery and proudly Corsican and not French. This may have played a part in his political views.

John Bannerman - The Beatons: A Medical Kindred In The Classical Gaelic Tradition

This is the clan of my family, but I can also trace Clan Buchanan and Clan Donnachaidh going back two generations or so. The Beatons offer some surprise as they were not original Scots from the ancient Gaelic kingdom of Dal Riata, the migrants came bearing this name during the Scottish Wars of Independence and a Patrick Macbeth is recorded as the principal physician of Robert Bruce, the famous warrior, and the king of Scotland. The Beatons were medical people, and their name is derived from ' son of life' in Scots Gaelic and  'son of seed' in Irish, so they are known for their nurturing and medical qualities. Of course, they were not originally called Beaton as this is an Anglicised version of Macbeth. Macbeatha is actually the original spelling. Macbeth the famous king of Scotland was not a Macbeth, he lived in a time before the migrants came from Ireland, and Macbeth was his first name, well a variation, Macbethad. The Beatons were the principal kindred of Clan MacLeod and Clan Donald for nearly 500 years.

Carl Von Clausewitz - Principles Of War

Carl von Clausewitz was a general in the Prussian army and experienced first-hand the effects of war and alongside Machiavelli were political scientists who had engaged in either politics or warfare. Many people claim von Clausewitz coined the argument that war is the extension of politics, but this is not true as it is explored in Machiavelli's book The Art of War. It is true in the sense that politicians will seek to use warfare or violence of some sort to gain some sort of political leverage, but von Clausewitz has the sort of credibility of being at the 'pointy end' of politics. A soldier is used as a political pawn by the methods of his master. Von Clausewitz not only inspired leaders like Lenin but also working class political philosophy of Marx and Engels.

Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting

Scottish history does not only contain many battles, but it also contains as I stated before great ingenuity in the face of adversity. From the stories compiled in the Ossian poems to the first ever historical novels written by Sir Walter Scott, Scottish literature has been hugely influential on many writers of today. John Knox actually made sure there were libraries in every village, the universities of Scotland were to be world leading. Such pioneering works in the areas of their field during Scotland's enlightenment, including Adam Smith and his theories on economics, to David Hume who boasts the biggest contribution to atheism philosophy prior to Darwinism. This prowess of literature still exists in the modern era with Trainspotting by Welsh, which landed on the literary scene with a bang. It is up there with the all-time classic Scottish literature, and its vernacular is often described as spectacular. Set in Edinburgh, the language of Scots shines through.