Regarded as one of the finest historical novels ever written, Jacobites, spies and thrilling intrigue are brought together by the master of suspense. As Bonnie Prince Charlie marches his army into England, his confidant Alastair Maclean is despatched on a secret mission. As he travels to rally the west of England to the Prince's cause, it begins to look as if someone is leaking information to the Government forces putting the campaign in peril. can Alastair find the spy and save his Prince, his cause and even just his own life?
From the Introduction by Stuart Kelly in Midwinter:
'Midwinter may move with the pace and vigour of one of Buchan's shockers, but it is a more mature and sophisticated novel, both morally astute and emotionally complicated. The reader knows the outcome in advance - rather than the 'if' of the thrillers, Buchan explores the 'how' and the 'why' of the historical novel. It also lends a quiet irony to many of the characters' aspirations and exchanges: Alastair's final epiphany is of 'the ironic pattern of life spread out beneath, as a man views a campaign from a mountain, and he came near to laughter - laughter with an undertone of tears'. J.B. Priestley once complained that Buchan's steady stream of popular fiction distracted him from writing a truly great novel: Midwinter shows exactly what he was capapble of as a novelist. But most of all, Midwinter is the finest tribute to the English landscape, English customs and English character ever penned by a Scotsman.'
| Primary Genre | Historical Fiction |
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