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Across a huge colourful canvas, ranging from the wilds of Scotland to Norway, Denmark and Rome, here is the story of the real Macbeth. Set aside Shakespeare's portrait of a savage, murderous, ambitious King. Read instead of his struggle to make and save a united Scotland. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Mac Beth Mac Finlay King of Scots
It is clear that the Shakespeare play- Macbeth- bears little or no resemblance to the true facts and events of the time or the real character of MacBeth mac Finlay King of Scots.
Nigel Tranter has put much meticulous research into this work, which most likely traces events close to how they really were. Nowhere do we read , in this book, about the vicious and bloodthirsty tyrant portrayed by Shakespeare.
MacBeth is here revealed as a strong and courageous ruler, who together with his beautiful young queen Gruoch (much maligned by Shakespeare as 'Lady MacBeth), are commited to the unity and freedom of Scotland from England, the Danes, the Roman Church and self-serving and arrogant nobles.
Together MacBeth and Gruoch rule justly and fairly, and MacBeth is helped by his half-brother the redoubtable Nordic Prince, Thorkill Forsterer, Earl of Orkney.
Duncan is revealed as not the benevolent and just king in the Shakespeare play, but a worthless and scheming coward, who MacBeth kills in battle.
The saga takes us all over Scotland, and to Norway, Denmark and Rome.
MacBeth's battle for the sovereignty and welfare of Scotland is brought to an end by Duncans' son Malcolm and the jealous Duncan MacDuff.
Interestingly MacDuff, in this volume, is not even a great warrior, and in the final chapter has MacBeth dispatched by a Norman knight, rather than fight him himself.
Obviously historical novels depend of imagination and deduction, as well as research, but a study of the subject would certainly verify the portrayal and events in htis novel as more authentic.
Enthusiasts of millitary histor and wargames will enjoy the detailed battle descriptions, and lovers of historical fiction will find this rich and rewarding.

MacBeth, The tragedy of the last of the true Celtic Kings
MacBeth, The King was an excellent read from Tranter.After reading so many of Nigel Tranter's wonderful books I expect nothing less.MacBeth was a tragedy throughout.Since the fog of history and the play MacBeth by Shakespear warps some people's views, Tranter did his best to recreate a possible life story for MacBeth.The Grandson of King Malcolm II, MacBeth was of the royal blood but usurped his Cousin Duncan and took the throne in the name of his wife Gruoch, heir to the senior royal line.Her son Lulach is named heir and Tanist by MacBeth over his own son's by Grouch.MacBeth try's in every way to do the right thing and earn his place on the Stone of Destiny.One of the last true Celtic Kings of Scotland, MacBeth travels from Norway, throughout his own Realm and to Rome to speak with the Pope and back.With the aid of his elder half-brother, Thorfinn Raven Feeder, the infamous Viking Earl of Orkney and Caithness, MacBeth rises from Mormaor of Ross to Moray and ultimately the throne.He brings peace to his realm for nearly 15 years. The unrest in of some of his own nobles, the English and death of his Brother Thorfinn ultimately brings down his defenses and the son of his slain cousin Duncan; Malcolm Canmor takes his revenge and MacBeth's life.Tranter has presented us with a great story and I can only hope it is closer to the truth than not.

From Tragic Villain to Tragic Hero
MacBeth, is one of the best-known names in literature, thanks to Shakespeare.But as a historical person, who lived and loved and fought and reigned nothing much is unknown.Shakespeare's version is great drama but utter fabrication as far as history goes.And sadly, in the tragic play, the character of MacBeth and still more of his great lady and queen, Gruoch, have been grievously defamed.

MacBeth, grandson of Malcolm II, was no savage usurper and regicide - just as his cousin, "the gracious Duncan" of the play, was not a gentle king but a weak and foolish king who was going to be a disaster for Scotland, and died, not murdered, of battle wounds.While the Queen Gruoch, who had more right to the throne than either Duncan or MacBeth, was never the female monster portrayed in Lady MacBeth, but a woman of great character and courage.

Nigel Tranter's story of the historical MacBeth and his struggle to make and save a united Scotland, of his love of a greatly - wronged young woman, of the humane laws they sought to establish, the battles he was forced to fight, the ancient Celtic Church he supported against the incursion of Rome and the ultimate price he had to pay.To a large extent, the book is also the story of Thorfinn, (MacBeth's half-brother) Viking Earl of Orkney.

Ranging all over Scotland and the Hebrides, the story also goes to Norway, Denmark and Rome.Canute, Edward the Confessor, Siward of Northumbria, King Sven of Denmark, Pope Leo IX, the Saxons and the Normans are amongst the host of forceful characters who stride across the huge and colorful canvas which Nigel Tranter has brought to life.

McBeth the Man loved humanity and peace "a churchman".
Tranter's introduction to the human side of McBeth vs the myth protrayed by Shakespear is a sheer delight.Learning how the young man only wanted peace in his land and accepted the love of a war won lady by hisstepbrother, from her war monger husband.He accepted her and her child ashis own without force.He placed her and the child as honored equals athis side, taking a stand to honor women as no other man of power before himhad done.This is not the McBeth Shakespear led the world to think of. Shame on Skakespear!

Excellent dramatization One of Scotland's Greatest Kings.
Mathew Allen - 02/11/98

This book takes the Scottish history concerning MacBeth from the area of Shakespeare's play to how this important king figures in the flow of Scotland's development into the nation and people that spans the Highlands and the Lowlands. It is in MacBeth's time that the Kingdom of Alba grows to encompass Galloway, Strathclyde and Lothian. This book presents dramatic details of the relationship from the lesser kings of Scotland (that would come to be known as the 13 Belted Earls, kings in their own right) to that of the High King (Ard Righ). The description of the coronation of MacBeth is worth the entire reading of the book. If a reader is interested in medieval re-creation or in understanding how the traditions of the nation have an impact on the people, this is a great place to start. (This scene reminded me of the scene in Dune where Paul claims the Dukedom before the great battle, avoiding combat with Stilguar.)

As is typical of Mr. Tranter's fictions, he doesn't list his references for this particular work. For the historians, it is difficult to know where the history and exact fact leaves off and where you are standing fully in the fiction. However, as an endorsement of Tranter's work, I have always found his historical facts to be accurate, leaving only the dialogs to the fabrication of the author. (Of course, this is what one would expect of a Historian turned novelist.)

But the work is not just a fancy story telling of the history. It contains characterizations that make it stand out as an excellent work of literature. We see a character (MacBeth the Mamor - Earl) struggle with the succession of Kings, where he has a claim to the title. Subsequently, we are introduced to the Viking blood of Scotland and the struggle as one King dies and leaves a Tanist throne in a state fit for civil war. As MacBeth becomes King of Scots (Alba) through the circumstances that will confuse a reader if they thought Shakespeare was a recounting of history, we watch the character develop with doubts and concerns that add dimension.

The aspects of history that I could not confirm as of my writing of this review, was the use and introduction of mounted knights in Scotland via Norman Mercenaries. What a concept to consider as a person scans the history from 1050 A.D. to the days of Wallace and Bruce and the days of King Edward of England. Also, my follow-up history research has been unable to confirm the detail of MacBeth's travels to the Pope and Rome, the first King of Scots to make the journey. These are details that add so much realism that you sometimes forget you are reading a Fictionalized-History and not History itself.

(I suppose I should add that I am quite a fan of the author, and own some 20 volumes of his books) ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on June 22, 1994. The length of the article is 548 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Selected Poems and Prose.(Brief Article)
Author: Bernard Gadd
Publication: World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1994
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: v68Issue: n3Page: p631(1)

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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The earth's cryosphere, which includes snow, glaciers and ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, sea ice, river and lake ice, and frozen ground, contains about 75% of the earth's fresh water. It exists at almost all latitudes, from the tropics to the poles, and plays a vital role in controlling the global climate system. It also provides direct visible evidence of the effect of climate change, and, therefore, requires proper understanding of its complex dynamics. This encyclopedia mainly focuses on the various aspects of snow, ice and glaciers, but also covers other cryospheric branches, and provides an up-to-date information and basic concepts on relevant topics. It includes alphabetically arranged and professionally written, comprehensive and authoritative academic articles by well-known international experts in individual fields.The encyclopedia contains a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from the atmospheric processes responsible for snow formation; transformation of snow to ice and changes in their properties; classification of ice and glaciers and their worldwide distribution; glaciation and ice ages; glacier dynamics; glacier surface and subsurface characteristics; geomorphic processes and landscape formation; hydrology and sedimentary systems; permafrost degradation; hazards caused by cryospheric changes; and trends of glacier retreat on the global scale along with the impact of climate change. This book can serve as a source of reference at the undergraduate and graduate level and help better understand snow, ice and glaciers. This will also be an indispensable tool containing specialized literature for geologists, geographers, climatologists, hydrologists, and water resources engineers; as well as for those who are engaged in the practice of agricultural and civil engineering, earth sciences, environmental sciences and engineering, ecosystem management, and other relevant subjects. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Courting Favour
Though well written and well researched as to Scottish history and customs, there were several glaring errors as to English history, which while they did not detract from the storyline, they were rather distracting.

Tranter refers to John of Gaunt as the brother of Edward III, rather than as his son, while the Earls of Kent and Norfolk are refered to as the half-brothers of John of Gaunt and Edward III, when they were actually the half-brothers of Edward I. By the time of Robert II of Scotland, both Earldoms were in abeyance.

Paladin to 3 Kings
John Dunbar, second son of the Earl of Dunbar and March, is fishing with his older brother George and returns to be told by their Mother, the infamous Black Agnes, that their father is dead in England and that George is now the Earl of Dunbar and March and John is the Earl of Moray.Thus begins John's journey to the North to set things to right.He graciously serves King David II, Robert II and Robert III in protecting Scotland from the English in the border lands, makes peace with the Lord of the Isles, and even units 4 earldoms in the north to curb Alexander Stewart, brother of the King, Earl of Buchan and Wolf of Badenoch.John thus brings an unusual peace and harmony to a mostly unruly North.He weds his beloved Marjory, a daughter of Robert II and preps his son Thomas to assume the role of Earl of Moray one day.His amazing life from unlikely second son to great Earl and uniter of Scotland's wild North all comes to a tragic end on the London Bridge of all places.Tranter weaves a wonderful tale and breathes life into this 600 year old history in his amazing style.
... Read more

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Chapters: Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Nigel Tranter, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy Dunnett, Andrew Balfour, George Macdonald Fraser, Thomas Dick Lauder, Ross Laidlaw, Mary George, Margaret Elphinstone, David Wishart, Ross Leckie, Iain Gale. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 114. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. Stevenson has been greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Marcel Schwob, Vladimir Nabokov, J. M. Barrie, and G. K. Chesterton, who said of him that he "seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikins". Stevenson was born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson at 8 Howard Place, Edinburgh, Scotland, on 13 November 1850, to Thomas Stevenson (18181887), a leading lighthouse engineer, and his wife, the former Margaret Isabella Balfour (18291897). Lighthouse design was the family profession: Thomas's own father was the famous Robert Stevenson, and his maternal grandfather, Thomas Smith, and brothers Alan and David were also among those in the business. On Margaret's side, the family were gentry, tracing their name back to an Alexander Balfour, who held the lands of Inchrye in Fife in the fifteenth century. Her father, Lewis Balfour (17771860), was a minister of the Church of Scotland at nearby Colinton, and Stevenson spent the greater part of his boyhood holidays in his house. "Now I often wonder", says Stevenson, "what I inherited from this old minister. I must suppose, indeed, that he was fond of preaching sermons, and so am I, though I never heard it maintained that either of us loved to hear them." Robert Louis Stevenson at ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=26444 ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Josie Lawrence, Frank Skinner, William Tranter, Pat Wright, Keith Downing, Paul Reid, Sam Wedgbury, John Sadler, Jack Judge, Alfred Sabin, Gilbert Smith, George James, Marjorie Westbury. Excerpt:Personal information Alfred James Sabin (7 April 1905 1982) was an English footballer who played in the First Division of the Football League for Birmingham . Sabin was born in Oldbury , then part of Worcestershire . Described as an attacking wing half , he had been playing for Accles ... Read more

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This updated and revised edition offers a broad yet rigorous introduction to communication theory. Contains an excellent account of noise effects in analog and digital communication systems followed by introductory treatments of detection, estimation, information and coding theory. New to this edition: sections on trellis-coded modulation and carrier reconstruction; material on interference demonstrating the difference between linear and nonlinear systems; updates on optical communication links and feedback channels. Features scores of new examples and problems as well as computer exercises using mathematics packages such as MATLAB® and MathCad® to facilitate students' understanding of concepts and applications. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Critical review
Ziemer's text is the best comms book that I have read. The explanations and notation are excellent and very well thought out. ... Read more