From the author of How the Scots Made America, this is a definitive history of the Highlands, ranging from the depths of bloody clan warfare to the heights of Gaelic poetry. "This formidable, superb, spectacularly audacious history of the Highlands," wrote The Times, focuses squarely on its people. Michael Fry traces the ironies of their fate as emigration, forced clearances, and the breakdown of feudal relations undermined traditional customs. Fry's groundbreaking reassessment of the Highlands is not, however, the usual eulogy for a dying era. He argues that modernization simply had to happen, and he traces the many inventive ways in which Gaelic culture withstood decline. "Outstanding...best of all, deliciously written." (The Literary Review) The author of four previous books on Scotland, Michael Fry has also contributed to many major newspapers.