The Prince and the Pretender: Two Views of the '45

A number of accounts given by participants in the '45 have come down to us. But there are many points on which they disagree. Who, or what, are we to believe? Was Charles close to the front line at the Battle of Culloden or at the rear? Was his horse shot under him, as two of the eye-witnesses insist?These are the kinds of questions that drove Professor Youngson, one of Scotland's leading historians, to undertake his remarkable re-examination of the Jacobite Rebellion. He presents two versions of the '45, one from the Hanoverian and one from the Jacobite point of view. What he demonstrates is how, if one adopts two contrasting points of view, the same people and the same events can be described in two revealingly different ways.Thus in one half of the dual narrative we see Charles the heroic adventurer and brilliant military leader. In the other we see Charles the opportunist, cynical, heartless and irresponsible.Ultimately, Professor Youngson argues, there is no clear dividing line between history and propaganda - 'it is therefore for the reader to beware'.