Showing results by author "Walter Scott" in All Categories

Four spine-tingling short stories from masters of the genre, read by Michael Maloney, Eleanor Bron and Andrew Sachs: 'The Phantom Coach' by Amelia B. Edwards; 'The Judge’s House' by Bram Stoker; 'The Tapestried Chamber' by Sir Walter Scott; 'The Man of Science' by Jerome K. Jerome.

"Forse qualche anno fa avete già letto questo libro, Ivanhoe di Walter Scott. O forse, invece, è la prima volta che lo incontrate, ed è attraverso la voce. Magari sapete che è uno dei primi romanzi storici, e che il suo autore, Walter Scott, è il moderno ideatore di questo genere che oggi conosce tanta fortuna. E forse sapete anche che proprio questo romanzo ha ispirato Alessandro Manzoni a mettere mano ai suoi Promessi sposi. Di certo, di Ivanhoe avete sentito parlare. Vi aspettate cavalli e cavalieri, eroine e templari, sassoni e normanni, principi e buffoni, persino Robin Hood, e non rimarrete delusi."

Waverley by Sir Walter Scott is an enthralling tale of love, war and divided loyalties. Taking place during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, the novel tells the story of proud English officer Edward Waverley. After being posted to Dundee, Edward eventually befriends chieftain of the Highland Clan Mac-Ivor and falls in love with his beautiful sister Flora. He then renounces his former loyalties in order actively to support Scotland in open rebellion against the Union with England. The book depicts stunning, romantic panoramas of the Highlands.

Jonathan Oldbuck, the antiquary of the title, has a passion for the past–and delights in trying to convey it. He meets the mysteriously taciturn young Lovel and the two strike up a friendship, bonding over Roman ruins. When Lovel falls for Isabella, daughter of a local landowner, it looks like an impossible situation. Sharp, funny, gothic, romantic, and full of action, this is a thoroughly entertaining window on Scottish life in the summer of 1794: it was Scott’s intention to show the spirit of the times, and how the past affects the present–and it was his own favourite of all his novels.

After rejecting the life his father has laid out for him, Frank Osbaldistone is sent to the North of England to live with his Uncle, where he is to repent his sins. However, when his father's wealth and reputation are threatened, he is drawn to the Scottish Highlands, where he must retrieve a set of stolen documents. It is here that he is pulled into a number of skirmishes relating to the Jacobite uprising of 1715, and where his path frequently crosses with the mysterious maverick outlaw known as Rob Roy....

This is one of Sir Walter Scott’s greatest adventures, set amongst the roaring battles of the struggle between the Normans and the Saxons for control of medieval England. It deals with the rivalry between King Richard the Lion-Heart and his brother, John. We follow the adventures, skirmishes and romances of the hero, Ivanhoe, a Saxon knight loyal to King Richard, as he attempts to survive the England of King John alongside the disguised Richard and, of course, Robin Hood.

In this exciting tale, the legend of Amy Robsart and her secret marriage to the earl of Leicester comes alive in a blend of historical fact and fanciful fiction.

Written in 1819 but set in 12th-century England, Ivanhoe is a tale of love struggling to survive against a violent backdrop of politics and war. Wilfred of Ivanhoe was thrown out of his father's home when he fell in love with his father Cedric's ward, Lady Rowena. Ivanhoe later returns from fighting in the Crusades and is wounded in a jousting tournament. A series of events follows, including the return of King Richard to England, resulting in Ivanhoe's reconciliation with Cedric and his marriage to Rowena.

The Crusaders, led by Richard I of England, are encamped in the Holy Land, and torn by the dissensions and jealousies of the leaders, including, besides Coeur de Lion himself, Philip of France, the duke of Austria, the Marquis of Montferrat, and the Grand Master of the Templars. The army's impotence is accentuated by the illness of Richard.

In 1819, Walter Scott published Rob Roy, a book that would eventually become one of the most-read historical novels of all time. The story unfolds through the eyes of Frank Osbaldistone, the son of an English merchant. Frank first travels to the north of England, eventually ending up in the Scottish Highlands. He is determined to collect on a debt owed to his father, but on his journey he encounters Rob Roy MacGregor, who sets the tone for the story's development.

Poet, novelist, critic and campaigner Walter Scott invented the historical novel and shaped the world’s image of Scotland. His tales of heroism, romance and adventure were hugely successful, outselling Jane Austen and Lord Byron, and are still popular today. Included here are adaptations of five of the best-loved books in his ‘Waverley’ series, as well as two bonus programmes.

During the reign of Richard I, Wilfred of Ivanhoe earns his father's disapproval by falling in love with Rowena, his father's ward. His father had planned to wed her himself, and reestablish the Saxon line.

Scott's discourses on the psychological, religious, physical, and preternatural explanations for contemporary beliefs in ghosts, witches, warlocks, fairies, elves, diabolism, the occult, and even werewolvesare are essential for acolytes of the dark and macabre. The letters dealing with witch hunts, trials, and torture are morbidly compelling. Scott was neither fully pro-rational modernity nor totally anti-superstitious past.

When Edgar plans to acquire his family's ancient estate from the corrupt lord keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, he is met with the complexities of the legal and political situations following the 1707 Act of Union. To complicate matters further, Edgar is falling in love with his enemy's beautiful daughter, Lucy. First published in 1819, this enduring romantic tragedy presents insights into emotional and sexual politics and the shrewd way in which Sir Walter Scott presented his work.

This is the inspiring and fast-moving story of a young prince, Charles Edward Stewart, and his audacious bid for the crown of King George. From exile in France, he sails to Scotland, rallies the Highland clans and marches on London, is defeated in the bloody battle of Culloden and flees from General "Butcher" Cumberland, and with the help of gallant Flora McDonald and loyal clansmen, eventually makes his dramatic escape.

"The Lady of the Lake" (1810) is a narrative poem set in the vicinity of Loch Katrine, in the Trossach region of Scotland. It is made up of six cantos, each focusing on one day. There’s three main plots to this poem: a competition between three men for the love of one Ellen Douglas, a feud between James Douglas and King James V, and a war between lowland and highland Scots. This poem was incredibly influential at the time of its publication and inspired the Highland Revival movement.

Edinburgh, 1736. In the town’s grim prison, the Heart of Midlothian, two prisoners await execution. Captain Porteous of the Town Guard has been sentenced to death for ordering his soldiers to open fire on Edinburgh citizens. He hopes for reprieve. The people want revenge. Effie Deans, wrongly accused of killing her newborn baby, will die unless her sister, Jeanie, tells a lie. Jeanie, determined to save her sister, makes a terrifying journey as Effie’s life hangs in the balance.

The Heart of Midlothian: Gerda Stevenson's dramatisation of Walter Scott's classic.

Part One: A mob storms the Tolbooth Prison where young Effie Deans awaits trial for murder. Part 2: While her sister awaits execution, Jeanie decides to walk to London to plead for her life.

Edward Waverley is an English officer in the army of King George, but will his love for Flora, the beautiful Scottish rebel, lead him to betray his king? Life with his regiment in Scotland is dull until he visits his uncle's friends in the Highlands, where he meets Fergus McIvor and his sister Flora. Attracted by the wild freedom and romance of the Scottish clans, Edward finds himself in a difficult and dangerous position. His new friends are Jacobites, planning to overthrow King George and restore the Stuart monarchy.

Ivanhoe has never been superseded as the epitome of chivalric novels. The brave knight comes from the Crusades to claim the Anglo-Saxon princess, Rowena, as his bride. But he becomes caught up in the feud between Prince John and his brother, Richard the Lionheart, who has returned to England incognito.