1745, my latest novel, is finished.

1745 has 716 pages and 175,000 words full of adventure.

Another invasion of the British Isles is in the offing.  This will be the latest in an almost two thousand year old drama.   Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Danes, Vikings, Normans, French, Spanish will mount attempts. 

But this one will be staged with the longest odds.

Far to the south, warships are being loaded with men and arms.  A tall, blonde prince is getting his final instructions from his father.  But fate intervenes on his northern journey and he will land on the Outer Hebrides with nothing more than seven followers.  His aim, restore his family to the English throne.   

In the turbulent year of 1745, while King George II and the English army is embroiled in the War of Austrian Succession, Charles Edward Stewart, grandson of King James II, raises the Jacobite standard at Glenfinnan in proclamation of his right to the throne of his ancestors.  This bold act will set in motion the Jacobite Rebellion of ’45.  Its disastrous consequences for those that flock to his banner will bring about the end of the clan system, and the dispersal of his followers to Europe and North America

For hundreds of years until the 18th century, the Highlands and Western Isles of the Kingdom of Scotland were administered by a feudal clan system.  The clan chiefs, who had the power of life and death over their kinsmen, were aided by ‘tacksmen’ who were given large parcels of land to distribute among the lower order clansmen. Each chain in the land distribution paid rents to their superiors This system ensured loyalty in times of war, and a steady income in times of peace, and was centered on the castles and great houses of the chiefs.  Various laws enacted since 1603, had been put in place to modernize and educate in England the sons of the chiefs.  These new men adopted the dress and manners of the English gentry and were slowly changing the system that exists in their fiefdoms. 

The saga of the Western Isles continues.

Rejoin Jamie Fawkes, Archie McLawry, and Allie-Kat MacEwan in the next chapter of their adventures. 

1745 is the follow up to Skye, the second volume of the series “The Jacobites.”

The Black Donald MacDonald and the rest of his clan and kinsmen are seething for revenge.  Clan MacDonald has not forgotten or forgiven the latest slight at the hands of the MacKellans.   One Arthur MacDonald, the heir, has set his cap for Allie-Kat, and a looming confrontation with Jamie.

The protagonists and their stories in this novel, and the others in the series, begin on the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides and weave their way to the outskirts of Edinburgh for the remainder of 1745. 

1745 is part of the larger series “Letters of Fire and Sword” which follows the events of Jacobite Rebellion in the United Kingdom in 1740’s and continues into North America with the struggle for empire between England and France.  

My characters weave their fictional lives with real historic characters and sites.  Highland, Gaelic, and Celtic customs are used throughout the novel as they occur during the years.

In the back of my novels is a section labeled ‘Dramatis Personae’ which contain descriptions of every character of note in the book.

I always include a translating section for each language I use in my writing.  At the time of these stories only the most educated spoke English on a regular basis, Gaelic served in both the Highlands and Ireland as the lingua franca of the lower classes.