Reminiscences of a Jacobite: The Untold Story of the Rising of 1745

By Michael Nevin

When Jacobite enthusiast Michael Nevin successfully bid for a handwritten letter and memorandum by Bonnie Prince Charlie at an auction, little did he realise he had come into possession of material that would change our view of history. Written in France following his defeat at Culloden in 1746 and addressed to Louis XV, the story that emerges from these documents is more complex than that suggested by conventional histories of the time. In addition to revealing the prince as a far more charismatic and courageous figure than that portrayed in popular fiction, they show that, far from abandoning Scotland after Culloden, he was committed to return and did not finally give up his dream of Stuart resoration until the failure of the Elibank Plot.

In this book, Michael Nevin tells the story of the Rising of 1745-46, its genesis and consequences. It looks at the motivations of the leading players, examines crucial but neglected battles of the Jacobite wars and sheds new light on the mystery of what led to Bonnie Prince’s Charlie’s psychological disintegration after 1752.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Birlinn
• Release date: Nov 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781788853712

Michael Nevin

After graduating with a First Class honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University, Michael Nevin began his career as an economist with the Ministry of Finance of the Government of St Lucia during the period leading up to and immediately following the island's independence from the UK. Later, he worked with the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg with responsibility for the bank’s lending operations in a number of African countries under the Lomé Convention , and subsequently with the London Docklands Development Corporation where he was responsible for the financial planning and management of the largest urban regeneration programme ever implemented. He then joined Deloitte & Touche in the City of London and Edinburgh before setting up his own economics advisory practice. His interest in the true facts surrounding the Rising of 1745 was inspired by a handwritten memorandum submitted by Prince Charles Edward Stuart to Louis XV of France which he acquired in 2002. He served as Treasurer of the 1745 Association between 2005 and 2010, and has been the Association's chair since 2016.