Tranter, Nigel

(British, 1909–99)

Tranter was born in Glasgow, educated at Herriot's School, Edinburgh, and worked in insurance before becoming a full-time writer in 1946. Begin with The Wallace (1975), one of his many novels about Scottish history, which recounts William Wallace's rise from obscurity. Betrayal leads to defeat when, fired by injustice, he takes on Edward I's forces. In Unicorn Rampant (1984) King James I makes his only return to Scotland after becoming king of England. He returns to London with a young Scottish courtier who cuts a dash in the English court and meets Ralegh, Bacon, and the future Charles I. Children of the Mist (1992) deals with hostilities between the MacGregor and Campbell clans in the early seventeenth century. Bonnie Prince Charlie's time of flight through the highlands after Culloden is the subject of Highness in Hiding (1995).

Jean Plaidy, Bernard Cornwell, Walter Scott  DH