Donald McFarlan Livres

As the world has grown and changed and humankind has challenged its inner and outer limits, this reference book has been there to record every incredible fact and feat. The most extraordinary in an extraordinary world are all here in this exciting and expanded edition of the number-one record book of all time. Features an increased emphasis on environmental records and more illustrations than ever before.

Rob Roy is a historical novel, taking place just before the Jacobite rising of 1715, with much of Scotland in turmoil. It is narrated by Frank Osbaldistone, the son of an English merchant who travels first to the North of England, and subsequently to the Scottish Highlands, to collect a debt stolen from his father. On the way he encounters the larger-than-life title character, Rob Roy MacGregor. Though Rob Roy is not the lead character, his personality and actions are key to the novel's development. The book was loosely adapted into a film in 1995, starring Liam Neeson, Tim Roth, and Jessica Lange.

This edition looks at the Scottish identity through the text of Stevenson's classic. The duality of Scottish life - the mercantile, respectable Lowland Scot, as represented by David Balfour, and the romantic, rebellious Highlander, Alan Breck Stewart - runs deep in the psyche and literature of Scotland. Although Stevenson claimed that Kidnapped was simply an adventure tale to while away the long winter evenings, the journey and experiences of the characters can be seen as a rite of passage. He questions both the values of the civilized Lowland society, and the sentimental view of the highlands portrayed by Sir Walter Scott and others. The topography of the novel is detailed in extensive notes, with a Scots glossary to supplement Stevenson's own.