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Historical person
Alexander III was king of Scots from 1249 until his death in 1286. His reign brought relative stability and included the Scottish victory over Norway at Largs and the Treaty of Perth, which secured the Hebrides and the Isle of Man for Scotland.
His accidental death without a surviving child created a succession crisis that led to the Great Cause, English intervention and the Wars of Scottish Independence. He therefore stands at the dividing line between a prosperous medieval kingdom and decades of dynastic conflict.
Paul Doherty’s Crown in Darkness begins with Alexander III’s fatal ride in 1286 and turns the uncertainty surrounding his death into a murder investigation set against the coming succession crisis. Nigel Tranter’s Crusader follows Alexander from his child kingship through English pressure and noble faction, while Envoy Extraordinary places his government within the diplomacy surrounding Norway and the western isles. J. R. Tomlin’s On a Sword’s Edge uses Alexander’s resistance to Haakon IV’s 1263 invasion as the setting for a young soldier’s education in war. Robert Low’s The Lion Wakes begins from the vacuum left by Alexander’s death and the Scottish crisis that follows.
Series
The William the Bold series follows the early career of William Douglas, later remembered as William the Hardy. As a sixteen-year-old squire in 1263, he faces the Norwegian invasion at Largs and discovers that courage in battle bears little resemblance to the glory imagined by an untested youth.…
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The Hugh Corbett Mysteries follow a royal clerk, diplomat and Keeper of the Secret Seal from the reign of Edward I into the troubled rule of Edward II. Corbett investigates murders that threaten royal government, foreign negotiations and the security of the crown. His work takes him from…
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The Kingdom trilogy follows the fictional knight Hal Sientcler and the men around Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence. From Edward I’s intervention in Scotland in 1296, the sequence moves through rebellion, the defeat at Falkirk, Wallace’s final years and Bruce’s hazardous rise from rival…
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Standalone books
