Originally published 1907. The author writes of clan life and the internal disturbances which so marred the peace and prosperity of the Highlands. Some thirty of these are discussed in detail. Many of the earliest history books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing many of these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This book questions the view of the current orthodoxy which argues that the Soviet Union and the United States were binary opposites in the 1930s. The Shaping of Popular Consent presents a comparative analysis of one specific facet of the USSR and the US, namely the manner in which their ruling elites sought to win popular consent. A key dimension in the analysis of any political order, this issue recommends itself precisely because the assumption that, in this the two were quite dissimilar, is the virtual point of departure for the current thinking. To sharpen the focus of the comparison, the book concentrates on the role of the visual arts and the manner and extent to which those in power employed them to attempt to win popular consent. Therefore, this book poses two questions. Firstly, to what extent did the ruling elites in both the USSR and the US believe they needed the people's faith/trust in the system? Secondly, different as the two societies were, to what extent might they have employed similar use of visual cultural media in their attempts to win "hearts and minds"? The study explores the interwar years, specifically 1929-1941. This was an era of great upheaval in both the USSR and the US and marks the beginning of the age of mass communication. The book examines if, how, and to what extent Soviet and American cultural producers, during the years 1929-1941, employed the visual arts, cinema in particular but also painting, the plastic arts, theatre and architecture, to promote, essentially, the establishments' rights and wrongs, heroes and villains. It does so exploring both the domestic and the international scene. It illustrates that, despite giant differences between the two countries, in the way the two establishments sought to win popular consent the binary view is simply inaccurate. Perhaps more importantly, it demonstrates the need for a plethora of wide-ranging comparative studies of the Soviet Union and the United States. Indeed, through recognizing the importance of comparing and contrasting the USSR and the US, and by attempting to do just that, we might learn to better understand how, in what ways and for what purposes these two countries, so central to our understanding of the modern world, were organized. Thus, this work is genuinely comparative, inter-disciplinary and cultural. Indeed, the study is part of a vanguard movement. It is of significant value to scholars of both the USSR, Stalinism and Soviet art and the US, the New Deal and Hollywood. Finally, building on work by Noam Chomsky, Anotonio Gramsci and others such as Benedict Anderson's book Imagined Communities, the book will be of tremendous interests to many (both students and interested parties alike) who have an interest in how identities are constructed, how propaganda is manufactured and just how the (ostensibly) divergent philosophies of modern governments are represented in popular culture.

During the 1930s, the Catholic Church in the US was engaged in a metaphorical 'war' against the increasingly modern and secular values of the American public. Alexander McGregor offers a detailed account of how the Church, feeling itself to be under siege, used the media- and particulalrly cinema- to reach out to Americans. The 1930s were the 'golden age' for Hollywood, and the Church saw the film industry as an opportunity to engender a pro-Catholic social moral code amongst the US population. McGregor examines the ways in which the American Catholic Church sought to directly influence film production through its involvement with censorship bodies such as the Legion of Decency. Led by two senior bishops, the Legion of Decency's self-appointed task was to police the censorship process of Hollywood films and ensure the moral exactness of the final product. McGregor furthermore discusses wider themes in this struggle for influence over the public sphere, such as the representations of sex and sexuality in the media, and representations of Americanism and patriotism in popular culture. He thus highlights how the American Catholic Church represented itself and its values, as well as how it perceived its opponents. Finally, 'The Catholic Church and Hollywood' investigates the apparent contradiction at the heart of this attempt to influence the public through the medium of cinema: that a religious group, claiming to be beholden to a higher law and power, would at the same time seek to merge its public identity with secular institutions. McGregor thus scrutinises the claim that in the American polity, state and religion are completely separate. Focusing on the Church's contempt for the public's newfound interest in science, wealth and sexual liberation, Alexander McGregor sheds light on both the social mores of the Catholic Church and wider American society during this crucial period.

With Several Curious Instances Of Highland Customs And Beliefs.

Murder - the most appalling crime of all. It comes in many guises and is diverse as the victims and perpetrators themselves. But no matter how horrifying, it fascinates as much as it repels. In this updated edition of THE LAW KILLERS, journalist Alexander McGregor examines some of the country's most chilling cases and peels back the civilised layers of our society to reveal some of the horrors that lie beneath, including: The Templeton Wood Murders - Was the same serial killer responsible and is he at last identified? Little Boy Blue - The schoolboy with a continuing compulsion to kill. Forgive Me Father - A trail of slaughter that spread to two countries? Anything You Can Do - The country's most notorious father and son who killed again and again. To Love, Honour . . . and Kill - The double wife-killer who thought he had committed the perfect murder...and nearly had. 'Alexander McGregor is the safest pair of hands in Scottish true crime . . . accurate, detailed and written with rare sensitivity - for good reason, The Law Killers was a bestseller' Emeritus Professor David Wilson, leading UK criminologist and presenter of In the Footsteps of Killers and Crime Files