Macbeth: High King of Scotland 1040-57

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Variously portrayed as a psychopath and a treacherous usurper, Macbeth, the last truly Gaelic king of Scotland, has been misrepresented by historians from Boece and Holinshed onwards. Culturally as well as linguistically removed from the eleventh-century Scotland about which they wrote, their confused understanding of Celtic society laid the foundation for the legend of the evil, murderous, tyrannical Macbeth. In utilizing their work in the writing of Macbeth, Shakespeare produced what was effectively a piece of political propaganda for his Stewart patron, James I of England. -- Now, in this probing biography, Peter Berresford Ellis shows us that the real Macbeth was a courageous and liberal king who defended Scottish independence - far different from the figure of myth and legend. Relying on contemporary records including the Orkneyinga Saga and the Annals of Ulster, Ellis examines the bitter power struggles that led to Macbeth's downfall in 1057 and the eventual decline of Celtic Scotland, a true story that is as compelling and as tragic as Shakespeare's great drama.