A fascinating biography of James I, King of Scots. James I was to prove a king very different from his elderly and conservative forerunners. This major study draws on a wide range of sources, assessing James I’s impact on his kingdom, and the long shadow he cast over the history of Scotland.

Michael Brown analyses the rise and fall of the Douglas family as the dominant magnates of the south of Scotland, from the deeds of the Good Sir James Douglas in the service of Bruce to the violent destruction of the Douglas earls in the 1450s.