Outlander and the Real Jacobites

Outlander and the Real Jacobites written by Shona Kinsella and published by

Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 224

Outlander has brought the story of the 1745 Jacobite uprising to the popular imagination, but

who were the Jacobites, really? Explore this pivotal moment in Scottish history, visiting some

of the key locations from Jamie and Claire’s travels. Discover what clan life was really like,

read about medicine in the 1700s and find out whether the red coats were really as bad as

Jack Randall. Meet Bonnie Prince Charlie and explore how he managed to inspire an uprising

from France and then storm England with a force of no more than 5,000 soldiers. Witness

the battle of Culloden and what really happened there, before exploring the aftermath of this

final attempt for a Stuart restoration.

This book looks at the rise of the Jacobite nation in the mid-1700s, looking at various aspects of life for the Jacobites during this time and the uprising against the English, which was played in a number of films/programmes such as Outlander. You often find with films/programmes based on history can often be romanticised but having read a number of books on the Jacobite rebellion this book does a good job in documenting events and being quite accurate historically. I must admit that I have not watched the Outlander series, so I can’t comment on any comparisons. A series usually has to be very well received if it’s a history-based series for me to watch it, but from this book, I found it very informative, detailed and well written so maybe I should try and watch the series. A good honest read and I would say it would go down well with television fans of the series.