Swords for hire - James Miller

In 1612, George Sinclair, an illegitimate son of a Caithness laird, became a Norwegian national hero. Along with almost 300 of his followers, Sinclair was killed in an ambush in Norway while marching to join the King of Sweden's army. Sinclair has legendary status in Norway but has been totally forgotten in his home country, just as the memory of thousands of other Scottish mercenaries who served in the the armies of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries has been forgotten. In this book, James Miller tells how a considerable proportion of the able bodied male population of Scotland at one time sought service on behalf of every dynasty and monarch on the continent of Europe. Some were fleeing from justice, others went to seek fame and fortune—and found it.