The King Over the Water: A Complete History of the Jacobites

by Desmond Seward

Overview

Shortlisted for the Military History Matters Book of the Year Award

Few causes have given rise to such dramatic tales of loyalty, passion and betrayal as the Jacobite dream of restoring the Stuarts to the British throne. Although its failure brought savage retribution from the Hannoverians, the Jacobite flame continued to burn decades after Culloden.

This is the first modern history of the entire Jacobite movement in Scotland, England and Ireland, from the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688 that drove James II into exile and the death of his grandson, Cardinal Henry, Duke of York, in 1807. The Battle of Culloden and Bonnie Prince Charlie's flight through the heather are well known, but not the other risings and plots that involved half of Europe and even revolutionary America. The King Over the Water weaves together all the strands of this gripping saga into a vivid, sweeping narrative, full of insight, analysis and anecdote.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780276762
Publisher:	Birlinn, Limited
Publication date:	05/04/2021
Edition description:	New in Paperback
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	880,983
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Desmond Seward was educated at Ampleforth and St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. Among the most highly regarded popular historians of his generation, he was the author of some thirty books, including biographies of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry V, Richard III, Marie Antoinette and Metternich. He passed away in 2022.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and diagrams xiii

Family Tree xv

Prologue - into Exile xvii

Introduction: Jacobites - English, Scots and Irish xix

Chronology xxi

Part 1 James II - The Lost Throne

1 James, Duke of York - Heir to the Throne? 3

2 King James II and VII, 1685-1688 8

3 The Dutch Invasion, 1688 15

4 Revolution or Old Truth? 20

5 Hope and Despair - Scotland, 1689-1691 29

6 A Nation Once Again - Jacobite Ireland, 1689-1690 37

7 Disaster - the Battle of the Boyne, 1 July 1690 47

8 Defiance - the Siege of Limerick, August 1690 53

9 The Last Sad Hour of Freedom's Dream, 1691 59

10 Invading England? 1691-1696 70

11 Murder Dutch Billy? 1695-1696 78

12 'King Williams 111 Years' - Scotland, 1694-1701 84

13 Waiting for 'the gentleman in black velvet' 91

Part 2 James III - A Second Restoration?

14 Queen Anne, 1702 101

15 'A parcel of rogues in a nation' - the Union, 1707 105

16 The 'enterprise of Scotland', 1708 112

17 'Fire smothered under flax' - Ireland, 1708 118

18 Stuart or Hanover? 123

19 The Illustrious House of Hanover, 1714 134

20 'Now or Never!' 1715 140

21 The Fifteen 148

22 The Battles of Sheriffmuir and Preston, 1715 156

23 King James VIII in Scotland, 1716 166

24 Hanover's Reckoning, 1716 174

15 Swedes and Russians, 1716-1718 184

26 The Nineteen 191

27 A Prince of Wales Is Born, 1720 199

28 South Sea Foulness 206

29 The Atterbury Plot, 1721-1722 211

Part 3 Whig Tyrrany

30 'A more dismal aspect?' 223

31 The Royal Oak Tree 228

32 The Private Life of King James III and VIII 234

33 The Honest Cause 241

Part 4 A King In Waiting

34 The Forty-Four? 251

35 The Irish Dimension - Fontenoy, Spring 1745 261

36 'I am come home, Sir', Summer 1745 267

37 Building an Army, Autumn 1745 277

38 Charles Invades England, Winter 1745 283

39 The Forty-Five behind the Lines 291

40 Withdrawal to Scotland, Winter 1745 298

41 The Battle of Falkirk, 17 January 1746 304

42 Culloden, 16 April 1746 309

43 Hanover's Revenge 318

44 'Skulking', Summer 1746 322

45 Europe's Hero, 1746-1748 328

46 Jacobite Revival, 1746-1750 332

47 The Elibank Plot, 1752-1753 336

48 'The Fifty-Nine'? 343

49 The Death of James III and VIII, 1 January 1766 348

Part 5 Charles III and George III

50 King Charles III, 1766 355

51 The Last Stuart Queen, 1772, 362

52 An American Dream? 1775 368

53 The Last Years of Charles III 374

Part 6 Twilight

54 Henry IX, 1788-1807 383

55 The Heirs 389

Epilogue 397

Appendix 1 Novels about Jacobitism 399

Appendix 2 The Jacobite Succession 402

Acknowledgements 403

Notes 405

Bibliography 429

Index 449

Editorial Reviews

Seward offers a fresh look at the struggle to restore the Stuart monarch after the Glorious Revolution in 1688. A bracingly revisionist history'

Telegraph

'An engaging look at the violent struggle of the surprisingly diverse Jacobites...Seward’s narrative is swift and cinematic with neatly sketched character portraits, from William III (“skeletal, round-shouldered, eagle-nosed and racked by asthma”) to Queen Anne (“obese, purple-faced, rheumy eyed [and] a martyr to gout”)’

Times Literary Supplement Rhys Jones

Seward's best work, persuasive and consistently employing a briskness in pace, a clarity of style and a genius for capturing the character of those long dead, long-forgotten and, perhaps, never remembered ... a rollickingly, splendidly chronological history'

Herald

A hugely detailed and complex history, woven into an engaging and revealing guide to what deserves to be told about the Jacobites'

Edinburgh University Club of Toronto

Seward demonstrates that the Jacobites were a multi-faceted and multinational bunch, united by a common vision of an alternative future. Swift and cinematic, with neatly sketched character portraits'

Financial Times

Seward's detailed descriptions of the Princes, Princesses, Kings and Queens create a sense of theatre and allow the reader to fully immerse themselves into the dramatic events of the period ... an engaging and easy read, perfect for emerging history buffs. 4.5/5 stars.'

Scottish Field

'Those with an interest in such matters will be delighted to read historian Desmond Seward’s new book. It sets theStuarts’ story in context – chronologically, constitutionally, politically, religiously and regionally’

Lancashire Post

Highly readable, with brilliantly rendered characters, and thrilling tales of deceit and espionage. Seward writes of the Jacobites from a sympathetic point of view. Yet he does not shy away from the fact that, the Jacobites were never seriously in with a chance of restoring their rule'

Military History Monthly - Calum Henderson

Seward's clear-sighted examination of the Jacobite movement shows how close it came to succeeding'

Scotsman - Allan Massie

An outstanding contribution to our understanding of a complex and extended passage of history. So much about the Jacobites has tended to focus on just one or two brief episodes taken from what was, in reality, a very long-running soap opera

Seward’s style is approachable and eminently readable, leading you through the many twists and turns. Deserves to be widely read'

Undiscovered Scotland

Desmond Seward is a prolific author of an impressively broad range of popular histories. Since we are not overburdened by popular histories on Jacobitism, this lively book is a welcome addition'

BBC History Magazine