Concise in style and informed by vast erudition, Periods in Highland History contains a small library's worth of information on all aspects of Highlasnd Scottish history from the earliest times to the present. I t offers a wealth of detail on topics ranging from clan warfare to the origins of the Highlanders distinctive dress to the agricultural methods they used to support themselves in their beautiful but largely barren land.

Until recent times change in the Highlands came slowly, making distinct phases in history hard to identify. Here the authors divide Highland history into seven distinct periods marked by processes such as the development of strong clan identities, the flowering of Gaelic verse, and the recovery of Highland morale after the defeat at Cullodon. They have thus made their subject more accessible to the layman than ever before.

While their approach is always scholarly and sophisticated, the authors do full justice to the dash and excitement that characterizes so much of the Highland past. They describe lightly armed warriors rushing downhill at their enemies -- first to the songs of the bards accompanying themselves on harps, and later to the envigorating music of the great Highland pipes. They tell of outlaws who exacted tribute from villages and engaged in daring cattle raids on the Lowlands. "Why should we be without cattle", remarks one Gaelic poet, "when the Sassanachs have herds."

Numerous illustrations, many showing Highland art, crafts and weapons make this definitive work a delight to the eye as well as to the mind.