James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, was only 38 when he was hanged by the Scottish Covenanters in Edinburgh in 1650 (his body was chopped up and the limbs were distributed to various towns). Though a poor, over idealistic politician, Montrose was a brilliant general for his king, Charles I, leading the Highland clans to a succession of remarkable victories until he was eventually defeated and betrayed. By then, of course, Charles had gone to the scaffold and the royalist cause was lost in any case. Many of Montrose's troops were Irish, and Buchan - rather uncharacteristically, since he did not like Ireland - defends them against accusations of atrocity. His book was first published in 1913 and has long been out of print.