In the early years of the Second World War an army officer is sent to the Faroe Islands to investigate rumours of a collaboration with the Nazi regime in Norway. What he finds changes lives, not least his own.No one who reads this book will forget the frozen corpse tied to a chair in an icehouse guarded by two drunken seamen, or the raging storm which batters their, ship as they carry the body to Shetland.That's just the beginning. As the tale takes grip, the reader becomes haunted, just as the characters are haunted by a sense of guilt and betrayal.One of the finest of Linklater's later, deeper, darker novels, The Dark of Summercombines national and family histories as it sets out to understand the past, redeem the corrosion of memory and find meaning in a world of divided loyalties.

'She was always in the lead, thrusting herself against the storm, tireless in pursuit' Mary, Queen of Scots was only eighteen years old when she came to the throne of Scotland in 1542. A catholic in a protestant country, her twenty-five year reign was marked by turbulence. Eric Linklater accentuates her strong political ambition, her kindness and strength in adversity as she battled through religious divide, hostility from Queen Elizabeth, unwanted suitors, spiteful love traps and double-crossing rebel lords. But throughout all of this she ruled her country with austere kindness and grace, woman against men, Queen against Queen. Eric Linklater details the trials and tribulations of Mary's life with illustrative precision, littered with quotes and poetry that build an honest portrayal of this prestigious Queen.

Eric Linklater's brilliant new novel tells the story of a double existence. Evan Gaffikin, sixtyish, grumpy and bored with his dull commercial success, discovers and develops his power to dream: to dream in such depth and in such glowing reality that he is able to escape his extraordinary existence. We learn of his double life as scenes from Gaffikin's real life alternate with his surrealistic, vivid, and often hilariously bawdy forays into the world of unreality. As his dream-world and its remarkable characters, gradually get the upper hand, the tension of the novel rises and the climactic sequence – in a yacht off the Hebrides – is mysterious and exciting. A Terrible Freedom could, perhaps, be described as an idiosyncratic venture into the realm of science fiction; but it may be preferable to see it as a conventional novel built with classical composure of unconventional material. Either way it is a tour de force of imagination and narrative skills.

A hitherto unknown pornographic manuscript of Robert Burns is found in the effects of a dead schoolmaster of impeccable reputation. Max Arbuthnot, an Edinburgh lawyer and a rich man, who at the age of sixty has a rampant appetite for the pleasures of the flesh, takes charge of it. As the manuscript is lost, found again, stolen, and variously shuttles back and forth, the infection of its bawdiness creates havoc in Edinburgh. It's ultimate fate is only decided after a series of bizarre adventures. Part farce, part satire on manners and social attitudes, The Merry Muse sparkles from beginning to end. It is the work of a master, written at the height of his powers.

It is a tale of defeat, but when defeat is characterised by valour of a certain pitch and quality, its memory may outlast a tale of victory. And like the Burghers who came with ropes about their necks, to offer their lives that a whole people might be spared, the men who fought at Calais, and helped to save a British army, will surely be remembered.In the introduction to The Defence of Calais, Eric Linklater called it an 'interim report', a 'half-told tale'. This report, first published in 1942 as part of The Army at War Series, is comprised of the information Linklater gathered from the surviving officers and soldiers who took part in the battle.The Siege of Calais (1940) and its aftermath was for many years a subject of a heated debate over its importance in saving the British Expeditionary Force from capture; Linklater's account of the actual military decisions and actions that followed, written freshly after the events, gives an insightful perspective to...

The earlier adventures of Juan Mosely – a lineal descendant of Byron's Don Juan – are recorded in Juan in America. From America he goes on an amorous adventure to China where he becomes involved in politics and welfare and deals with them in his own practical and fantastic way.

When the celibate Major Gander, C.B., T.D. sold out the family toffee business to American Candy Inc., he was able to retire in comfort. And when he dies from heart failure (it was after a strenuous shoot at the Brackens' Rife Meeting) his gathered relatives found that the thought of his will moderated their grief considerably. For they all felt well placed for at least a few thousand to help them cultivate their favourite virtues and vices! But it was not to be so simple. The Major, they soon discovered, had made his choice of legatee dependent on the most preposterous condition...

The Next Great War begins, and soon all Europe is involved. The war lasts a year - and then the women, robbed of husbands and sweethearts and sons, grow doubtful of the benefits of military policy, and begin to think that victory will come too late to do them any good. But what can they do? A remedy was discovered by Aristophanes about 2350 years ago. It is re-discovered and re-applied. And it is again successful. This is an Aristophanic comedy, and takes some Aristophanic liberties. It is satirical when the author pleases and when he cares to be serious he is very serious indeed. There is no monotony. The story shifts from realism to wild burlesque; from earnest appeal to uproarious extravagance. The final scenes are in Edinburgh. Aristophanes made his insurgent women seize the Acropolis - here they take possession of Edinburgh Castle, as tall an eminence, and hold it against the infuriated men. The fight for the Castle is the culminating incident in a vigorous and many-sided...

The Northern Garrisons visits the soldiers of WWII in some of the most barren and inhospitable of outposts. Eric Linklater, in his mission to document the lives, trials and achievements of these men, travelled to Shetland, Orkney, the Faeroes and Iceland. In Iceland Linklater notes how quickly the soldiers must adapt to their surroundings whilst trying to engage a local population that is somewhat indignant at being 'occupied'. But when taking a closer look, we see the resilience of the new troops in training as they endure the arctic conditions of Iceland, the taut waiting of the soldiers as they yearn to engage an unseen underwater enemy, and the good humour these men share, both with each other, and the locals that they must live alongside.First published in 1941 as part of The Army at War Series, The Northern Garrisons is a portrait of the vigilance, patience and ingenuity of the men who defended these Northern Isles, and protected the shipping lines that...

The Highland Territorials were made up of the 51st Division, who had fought bravely in the Great War, and entered WWII with a fearsome and loyal reputation. Here Erik Linklater draws from letters and War diaries alongside the official table of movements to construct a vivid picture of the battles, triumphs, and ultimately defeat, of the Highland Division in France. Not only do we see the tactical movements, but we get a closer look from the individual's point of view: Men so tired that the shells became a bothersome back-ground noise, and a ditch the perfect place to sleep; what it was like to hide in trees and pick off your enemy, or to be at the mercy of an invisible sniper.From communicating in Gaelic to scupper the German spies, to holding the line beyond the realms of endurance, we see that although the division was finally lost, it fought valiantly to the very end.First published in 1942 as part of The Army at War Series, The Highland Division is a record of...

Introduced by Magnus Linklater. Angelo, a private in Mussolini’s ‘ever-glorious’ Italian army, may possess the virtues of love and an engaging innocence but he lacks the gift of courage. However, due to circumstances beyond his control, he ends up fighting not only for Italy but also for the British and German armies. With his patron the Count, the beautiful Lucrezia, the charming Annunziata, and the delightful Major Telfer, Angelo’s fellow characters are drawn with humour, insight and sympathy, making the book a wittily satirical comment on the grossness and waste of war. Eric Linklater, who served with the Black Watch in Italy in World War II, is one of Scotland’s most distinguished writers. In Private Angelo he has written a book which demonstrates that honour is not solely the preserve of the brave. ‘He writes not only of an angel, but like one . . . Private Angelo is now a permanent portrait in the heavenly gallery of human frailty.’ Observer ‘The drollest medley of muddle...

A literary Cheers—filled with British charm and witComprised of an entertaining series of vignettes that occur at the Pelican Pub in Downish, England, Poet's Pub is a humor-filled collection of stories by award winner Eric Linklater—one of the original titles commissioned by Penguin Classics founder Allen Lane—and again available to American readers. When an Oxford poet named Saturday Keith assumes control of the Pelican Pub, what he desires most is the peace and freedom to craft his poems without being disturbed. This is the least of what happens, for the local watering hole soon becomes an out-and-out attraction for various eccentric characters ranging from uncouth rogues to members of academia.For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and...

Are the people of Britain capable of serving the new world, of writing with honour a new chapter of history? The answer, conclusively, is Yes.... But Socrates, in the third of the pieces, has still to be satisfied that the Allies are truly conscious of their purpose. A four-fold rule of law is not enough: the peace within that rule must not be an idle peace, but creative. If that is not explicitly our intention and desire, then why are we fighting?The Raft and Socrates Asks Why are imaginary conversations revolving around the political and military problems of WWII. The Raft is set in the mid-Atlantic, where six survivors from a torpedoed ship discuss the position of Britain and the difficulties and moral dilemmas of a soldier life.Socrates Asks Why is a conversation between Socrates, Voltaire, Johnson and Lincoln where the Allies' aim of peace and ending of the war is discussed and questioned.These conversations were first published...

Linklater opens with America's greatest surveyor, Andrew Ellicott, measuring the contentious boundary between Pennsylvania and Virginia in the summer of 1784; and he ends standing at the yellow line dividing the United States and Mexico at Tijuana. In between, he chronicles the evolving shape of the nation, physically and psychologically. As Americans pushed westward in the course of the nineteenth century, the borders and boundaries established by surveyors like Ellicott created property, uniting people in a desire for the government and laws that would protect it. Challenging Frederick Jackson Turner's famed frontier thesis, Linklater argues that we are , thus, defined not by open spaces but by boundaries. "What Americanized the immigrants was not the frontier experience" Linklater writes, "but the fact that it took place inside the United States frontier." Those same borders had the ability to divide as well as unite, as the great battle over internal boundaries during the...

For almost two decades, through the War of 1812, James Wilkinson was the senior general in the United States Army. Amazingly, he was also Agent 13 in the Spanish secret service at a time when Spain's empire dominated North America. Wilkinson's audacious career as a double agent is all the more remarkable because it was an open secret, circulated regularly in newspapers and pamphlets. His saga illuminates just how fragile and vulnerable the young republic was: No fewer than our first four presidents turned a blind eye to his treachery and gambled that the mercurial general would never betray the army itself and use it too overthrow the nascent union—a faith that was ultimately rewarded. From Publishers WeeklyAnyone with a taste for charming, talented, complex, troubled, duplicitous and needy historical figures will savor this book. A Revolutionary War general at age 20, James Wilkinson (1757–1825), whom few now have heard of, knew everyone of consequence in the early nation, from Washington on down. But he squandered his gifts in repeated and apparently uncontrollable double dealing, betrayals (he spied for Spain), conspiracies and dishonesty in the decades following the war. Wilkinson seemed to pop up everywhere, always trying to make a deal and feather his nest. To those ends, he would as soon turn on those whom he had pledged to help as be traitor to the army he served. The only man he remained true to was Jefferson, who in the end spurned him. No one trusted him, as no one should have. Linklater (Measuring America) skillfully captures this sociopathic rogue who, for all his defects, still commands attention from everyone trying to understand the 50 years after 1775. His charisma reaches across two centuries to perplex and fascinate any reader of this fast-paced and fully researched work. 16 pages of b&w illus., 2 maps.(Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review“Wilkinson may be the most unscrupulous character in all of American history…This biography of Wilkinson, who, writes Linklater, had ‘one of the most extraordinary careers as a secret agent in the history of espionage,’ is probably the best we have; it certainly is the most smoothly written.”—*The New York Review of Books*“[A] gripping biography.”—*Boston Globe*“Andro Linklater combed Spanish, British and American records to tell this complex story in fascinating…detail.”—*Associated Press*“What makes this tautly written narrative so timely is that it reminds us that the myth of American Manifest Destiny and the virtuous inevitability of our sway over a continent is just so much hogwash…Author Andro Linklater makes a telling judgment about how this most powerful military figure of his day engaged for almost a quarter-century in spying for Spain while at the same time plotting with an almost unending cast of questionable characters in a series of plots to sever much of what later was known as the Louisiana Purchase from the United States, or alternatively to seize Mexico, or perhaps become president of the United States himself…One comes away from this meticulously researched, well-written book with an unintended reconsideration of Benedict Arnold as America's worst traitor.”—*Washington Times*“The Scottish-born Linklater (Measuring America ) presents an intricate but accessible biography of James Wilkinson, one of the more enigmatic, controversial, and polarizing figures in early American history. Relying heavily on primary sources, especially Wilkinson's published memoirs and unpublished correspondence, Linklater reveals how and why this ambitious and talented young Continental Army general became a spy for the Spanish Empire and collaborated on a western separatist movement with Aaron Burr, whom he eventually betrayed by revealing Burr's plans. The author repeatedly compares Wilkinson's written defenses of his actions with documentary evidence of treason, convincingly arguing that Wilkinson, as described by one of his many enemies, had a "habitual distaste for honesty" but possessed the charisma, cunning, and intelligence needed to live a double life that fooled America's first four presidents. Wilkinson frequently put America at risk by revealing military strategies and secrets to his Spanish handlers, but, as Linklater shows, his duplicity ultimately failed to deter the growth of a fragile young nation. VERDICT This fascinating and richly detailed book is a useful resource for studying America's early struggles with internal interference and external opposition. A fine choice for undergraduates and informed lay readers.”—Library Journal“Anyone with a taste for charming, talented, complex, troubled, duplicitous and needy historical figures will savor this book. A Revolutionary War general at age 20, James Wilkinson (1757–1825), whom few now have heard of, knew everyone of consequence in the early nation, from Washington on down. But he squandered his gifts in repeated and apparently uncontrollable double dealing, betrayals (he spied for Spain), conspiracies and dishonesty in the decades following the war. Wilkinson seemed to pop up everywhere, always trying to make a deal and feather his nest. To those ends, he would as soon turn on those whom he had pledged to help as be traitor to the army he served. The only man he remained true to was Jefferson, who in the end spurned him. No one trusted him, as no one should have. Linklater (Measuring America) skillfully captures this sociopathic rogue who, for all his defects, still commands attention from everyone trying to understand the 50 years after 1775. His charisma reaches across two centuries to perplex and fascinate any reader of this fast-paced and fully researched work.”—Publishers WeeklyA well-wrought study of far-reaching treachery in the early years of the United States.”—Kirkus Reviews