The word Darien is a scar on the memory of the Scots, and the hurt is still felt even where the cause of the wound is dimly understood. Three hundred years ago the Parliament of Scotland, in one of its last acts before the nation lost its political identity, defied the King and the persistent hostility of the English to establish a noble trading company, to settle a colony, and to recover its people from a century of despair, privation, famine and decay. The site of the colony, Darien on the Isthmus of Panama, was the ...
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The word Darien is a scar on the memory of the Scots, and the hurt is still felt even where the cause of the wound is dimly understood. Three hundred years ago the Parliament of Scotland, in one of its last acts before the nation lost its political identity, defied the King and the persistent hostility of the English to establish a noble trading company, to settle a colony, and to recover its people from a century of despair, privation, famine and decay. The site of the colony, Darien on the Isthmus of Panama, was the enduring dream of William Paterson, the erratically brilliant Scot who had helped to found the Bank of England. He called it 'the door of the seas, and the key of the universe', and believed that it would become a bridge between East and West, an entrepot through which would pass the richest trade in the world. The first attempt to make the Company a joint Scots and English venture was crushed by the English Parliament. The Scots created it by themselves, in a wave of almost hysterical enthusiasm, subscribing half of the nation's capital. Three years later the 'noble undertaking', crippled by the quarrelsome stupidity of its leaders, deliberately obstructed by the English Government, and opposed in arms by Spain, had ended in stunning disaster. Nine fine ships owned by the Company had been sunk, burnt or abandoned. Over two thousand men, women and children who went to the fever-ridden colony never returned. It was a tragic curtain to the last act of Scotland's independence. John Prebble's book is the first detailed account of the Darien Settlement, drawn from original sources in the records of the Company, the journals, letters and memoirs of those who tried to turn William Paterson's dream into reality.
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Seller's Description:
Pages and cover are intact. Used book in good and clean conditions. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks.
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Seller's Description:
New. The word Darien is a scar on the memory of Scots. This is a detailed account of the Darien Settlement, drawn from original sources in the records of the Company, the journals, letters and memoirs of those who tried to turn William Paterson's dream into reality. Num Pages: 384 pages, 8pp b/w halftones, maps. BIC Classification: 1DBKS; 1KLCP; HBJD1; HBJK; HBLH; HBLL. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 198 x 129 x 24. Weight in Grams: 272. 2002. New Ed. Paperback.....We ship daily from our Bookshop.
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New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 384 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Repaired; Light Creasing on Front, Rear Covers, Spine; Front, Rear Covers, Spine Lightly Chipped; Spine Slightly Cocked; Light Sticker Pull to Front Cover; Light Moisture Damage (Staining); Moderate Yellowing Due to Age; Heavy Fading Due to Sun Exposure. "Door of the seas...key of the universe". CONTENTS: 1 The Noble Undertaking 2 The Rising Sun 3 The Door of the Seas 4 The Key of the Universe 5 A Nation's Humour 6 God's Wonderful Mercy 7 As Bitter as Gall; Appendices; Acknowledgements; Sources and Bibliography; Index. SYNOPSIS: For the Scots, stunned by the Massacre of Glencoe and prickled by English arrogance, the Darien scheme brought a touch of dignity. William Peterson's seductive vision of a New Caledonia linking Pacific and Atlantic beckoned them away from a past of martyred warriors towards a bright commercial future. Darien would be the "door of the seas, and the key of the universe". English hostility only strengthened the Scots in their faith; and the colony, floated on a wave of hysterical enthusiasm, carried with it all the hopes and half the wealth of Scotland. This is the story of a "notable undertaking". Crippled by the quarrelsome stupidity of its leaders, deliberately obstructed by the English government and opposed in arms by Spain, the venture ended in shattering disaster-a tragic curtain to the last act of Scotland's independence. For this detailed account of the Darien settlement, the author of Culloden, Glencoe and The Highland Clearances has drawn on Company records and the memoirs of those who tried to turn Paterson's dream into reality. John Prebble was born in Middlesex in 1915 but spent his boyhood in Saskatchewan, Canada. A journalist since 1934, he is also a novelist, filmwriter, and the author of several highly praised plays and documentaries for B.B.C. television and radio. During the war he served for six years in the ranks with the Royal Artillery, from which experience he wrote his successful war novel, The Edge of Darkness. His other books include Age Without Pity, The Mather Story, The High Girders, an account of the Tay Bridge Disaster, The Buffalo Soldiers, which won an award in the United States for the best historical novel of the American West, and Culloden, a subject he became interested in when he was a boy in a predominantly Scottish township in Canada. Culloden was subsequently made into a successful television film. Its natural successor, The Highland Clearances, was published in 1963 and Glencoe in the spring of 1966. All these books are available in Penguins.
