Sir Thomas Hope's life unfolded in an age of change, violence and upheaval in Scotland. The son of an Edinburgh merchant, Hope had a spectacular beginning to his career: at the age of seventeen. Before he had finished his legal education, he traveled to France to triumph in his first court case and caught the attention of the young king, James VI. It was the beginning of a life at the heart of the government of Scotland.

      From James VI to Cromwell, from John Knox t montrose, Lord Advocate Hope was a rock in a fast-changing world. He witnessed the reigns of Charles I, Charles II, the founding of the East India Company, affairs of state and affairs of the heart, matters political and diplomatic. No dry-as-dust lawyer, he was a friend as well as an advisor to the three kings he served.

      This is the last novel Nigel Tranter competed before he died in January 2000. His readers will recognize some of the characters and the places he chronicled in his earlier novels. But it is a story of a very real man and his family, brought vividly to life by the author's compelling storytelling abilities and his fascinating insights into Scotland's history.