 Non-fiction-history biography-memoir 342 pgs, 21 illustrations hardcover: 9781939434302 paperback: 9781939434821 ebook on iTunes audio tba Of additional interest: Inheritance the Moss of Cree a Scottish childhood by Mary Cecil Gladstone tba in 2018 |
Largie
Castle - a rifled nest by Mary Cecil Gladstone #1 in the Highland Trilogy "A Scottish Downton Abbey" - Maureen Hodge "An erudite, deftly crafted, impressively informative, and inherently engaging study of the life and times of Angus Macdonald, Largie Castle: A Rifled Nest is an exceptional and very highly recommended addition to personal, community, and academic library 20th Century Biography collections." - John Taylor, Midwest Book Review Growing up with the pagan Broonie & the Archbishop, brought up in a castle and, though a second son, set to inherit another castle conveying the title of laird, influenced by his Crabbe & Lockhart military ancestors, trained to be an effective agent of empire through his classical, sporting public school education and his time at Oxford as a rower, flyer, and student of history, Angus Macdonald looked forward to a bright future. He joined the Argylls and embarked on a military career that put him on the front line in Malaya, in WW2 as Chief of Staff to various Commanders, where he lived in tents, out-ran tanks in his baby Fiat, and escaped, only to die at sea in unknown circumstances. Sixty years later, his niece Mary Gladstone sets out to retrace his life to find out why her uncle’s mysterious death had so deeply affected her family. With scant evidence due to Angus’s restraint & love of solitude, Mary succeeds in this tour de force, of giving her uncle a living place in the British narrative. By recreating her uncle’s life, Mary Gladstone confronts the controversy surrounding his death. She searches the record, correcting a wrong, a code of honor betrayed by a jackal, a slander that brought death in another form. Her quest is like that of her Lockhart ancestor who rode to the crusades with the heart of King Robert the Bruce. In the years after WW2, Largie castle, roofless through neglect, was reduced to a rubble of stones & with it the author’s own sense of self & family. Gaining full understanding, she ends with an inspired disquisition on the British Empire, that nicely defines its evolving and layered character. The Author Short story writer, poet, playwright and literary critic, Mary Gladstone taught for many years at the University of Edinburgh. She also found time to write and broadcast on Scottish literature and the arts for the National press and BBC radio. She recently returned to Galloway where she grew up, to live by the sea in Scotland’s most southerly village where, on a clear day, she can see the coastlines of England, Ireland and the Isle of Man. © 2017 firefallmedia, all rights reserved. return to firefallmedia home page |
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