Exploring the turbulent and compelling past of Scotland’s west Highlands and islands in the late medieval era, this history of the lands of the former MacDonald "Lords of the Isles" charts the failure of the series of attempts to restore MacDonald's dominance in the west and the struggle to fill the resultant vacuum of power. This meticulously researched narrative travels through the changing fortunes of Scottish clans between 1493 and 1625 and the various ways in which those histories have been relayed and recorded for posterity. Initially published in 1836 and now updated with an enlightening new introduction, this invaluable edition is a classic piece of scholarship on an era of Highland history often neglected.