Scottish Kings

A good book reviewing the Stewart Monarchs of Scotland up until the English throne was reached by James VI. Gordon Donaldson gives a brief intro with King Alexander III, then the rise and fall of Robert the Bruce and David II respectfully and follows with the Stewarts. A chapter is devoted each to James I thru James V, Queen Mary and James VI. Mr. Donaldson examines the impulsive, shrewd, angry, and arrogant natures of each of the monarchs. He highlights their successes as well as their failures. Over all the Stewarts did their best it seems to survive and rule Scotland, which history has shown is difficult with the turmoil of the nobility with out the outside pressures from England and France. The Stewarts were a tragic dynasty in that most started and ended their rule young. Yet they endured for over 200 years and acquired the English throne in the end. Scottish Kings is a nice overview of the early Stewart Dynasty.

I found the early chapters tough to get into, but by the time Donaldson began the history of James I I was hooked. A fascinating study at the lives and reigns of some colorful personalities and crucial times. The book managed to cover Scottish political struggles, foreign alliances and how the Stewart monarchs failed and succeeded with these challenges. All in all a great book, perhaps its one drawback was its relative scarcity of information on the Scottish Reformation.

From his description of Alexander III being installed at Scone in 1249 -- in rites reminiscent of a pagan tribal chief instead of the Christian monarch of a western European nation -- to the sparsely attended coronation of James VI three centuries later (the result of a precarious revolution that deposed his predecessor), the author explores the reign of each monarch and sets him (or her) against the broader canvas of European history. Donaldson is one of the foremost authorities on Scottish history up to the unification of the island and his scholarship is impeccable, but he also has a happy talent for clear and colorful narrative. A good overview of the dynastic machinations and complex foreign relations that kept the Scottish mon-archy on its toes.