C. L. Johnstone offers here a history of Scotland's noble families through the centuries, noting how they shaped the history and politics of the nation. This edition includes all the illustrations of the ruins that were once their seats of power, and the family trees.

A detailed and intensive examination of the family ties which bound Scottish communities together and strengthened the country's resolve against England during periods of enmity or war, this book discusses the various noble houses in detail. Their evolution through the centuries - the rise of some to prominence, the fall of others to obscurity - is in many ways the story of Scotland as a nation state with its own identity and culture.

The border wars between Scotland and England are the later focus of this book; taking place in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Jacobite rebellion embroiled several of Scotland's longstanding noble houses in conflict.