Scotland and all things Scottish, have recently experienced a revival of interest resulting in many more visitors to its ancient cities and beautiful wild countryside. The broad sweep of Scotland"s story, both past and present, is chronicled by one of the country"s best historians. Andrew Fisher begins when Scotland was a land of romantic kingdoms and saints, gradually overtaken by more pragmatic struggles for power. Centuries of bloody strife lead up to the turbulent years of Mary Queen of Scots, the Calvinistic legacy of John Knox, and the bitterness of the final defeat. The dreams of the Jacobites are contrasted with the cruel reality of the end of the Stewarts and the Act of Union with England. The final chapter is Devolution, the setting up of the first Scottish parliament since 1707 and the symbolic return of the Stone of Destiny marking a new era for Scotland.