Scottish Exodus: Travels Among a Worldwide Clan [Paperback]

James Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2007

Millions of Scots have left their homeland during the last 400 years, and until now, they have mostly been written about in general terms. Gathering the tales of particular emigrants, drawn from the once-powerful Clan MacLeod, and discovering what happened to them and their families, this history breaks new ground. These are stories of, among other things, French aristocrats, Polish resistance fighters, Texan ranchers, New Zealand shepherds, Australian goldminers, Aboriginal and African-American activists, Canadian mounted policemen, and Confederate rebels. One 19-century MacLeod even went so far as to swap his Gaelic for Arabic and his Christianity for Islam before settling down comfortably in Cairo. Based on unpublished documents, letters, family histories, and the author's travels in the company of today's MacLeods, this is a tale of disastrous voyages, famine, dispossession, and the hazards of pioneering on faraway frontiers. But it is also the moving story of how people separated from Scotland by hundreds of years and thousands of miles continue to identify with the small country where their journeys began.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Recommended."  —Choice

"Extraordinary . . . no book has gone to these lengths to unpick so many human elements of the Scottish diaspora."  —The Herald

About the Author

James Hunter is the author of a number of books on Scottish history including Culloden and the Last Clansman; Glencoe and the Indians; Last of the Free; and A Dance Called America.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Mainstream Publishing (September 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1845961161
• ISBN-13: 978-1845961169
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,801,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars McLeod Clan Settles Throughout the World, May 11, 2009

By 

Lorna Jeanne Gibson (SPRINGFIELD, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scottish Exodus: Travels Among a Worldwide Clan (Paperback)

I purchased this book as a gift for my husband who is a member of the McLeod Clan, and he hasn't completely finished reading it yet. The book arrived quickly and was well-packaged. It has a lot of information about the McLeod clan that we didn't know before. The purpose of the book is to trace the McLeods who have left Scotland, why they left, and where they ended up all over the world. The author has actually traveled to interview many of these people in person which makes the book more than just a dry listing of statistics. Would recommend the book to any member of the McLeod clan.