The '45

Firstly, although the author (one of the leading living authorities on eighteenth century warfare)claims that all those writing about the '45 end up taking one side or the other, it seems very difficult to detect any bias - most writers on the '45 sympathise heavily with the rebels. This work is as impartial as can be. Bias may be natural, but it injects a dose of propaganda into history.

Duffy uses the well known sources, the Cumberland Papers, memoirs of the rebels and so forth, as all historinas must, but he also explores other source material hitherto unused. These include accounts in European archives by ambassadors in England at the time of the rebellion.He also uses the weather diaries of an English squire, and of these, more anon.

The background to the rebellion, both political and military, are explored in early chapters, which help the reader appreciate the difficulties facing bothe the government and the rebels.

Duffy's analysis of the controversies surroundingt he rebellion is both fresh and sound. He discusses the forces available to the government in December 1745 when the rebels were about to march to London, in a way that has not been done hitheto. His explanation as to why the rebels had to fighta t Culloden and the decisions of their leaders, are also laid bare. As with Stuart Reid in '1745', Lord George Murray's military faults are exposed.

Duffy also explores the vital importance of the weather. The campaign was fought from September 1745 to April 1746, much of it in the north of England and Scotland. Bad weather prevented Wade's army from coming to grips with the rebels, played havoc with ships either trying to aid or hinder each side, and played a part at Culloden. Campaigns at this time were rarely fought outside summer/Spring.

There are a few points one could quibble with, but they are essentially minor. Overall, an excellent book for both scholar and general reader (it is footnoted and there is a good bibliography)