The Stuart Secret Army

Discover the English Jacobites with their societies, plots and codes, all for the purpose of returning a Catholic Stuart to the throne.

• A country divided with larger than life characters
• Treason and the Tory party with spies, smugglers and poachers
• New view of the English national conflict that ended at Culloden

English Jacobites came from all walks of life. Bishops, printers, peers, poachers, members of Parliament, smugglers, soldiers of fortune and country gentlemen were all represented. They operated through a network of spies, underground clubs, and ale houses with newspapers and pamphlets publicizing their views and promoting the restoration of the Stuarts. The white rose, the twisted stem drinking glass, and the fans wielded by ladies of fashion all contained Jacobite emblems that can be seen in museums and country houses today. To the Tory party, barred from office by George I, the Jacobites provided an alternative route to power. The English Jacobites fermented plots and riots, and were involved in two major rebellions in 1715 and 1745. The former resulted in the execution of the young and handsome Earl of Derwentwater whose short life and tragic career are the subject of a special case history, the latter in the Battle of Culloden, the extinction of the Stuart cause, and the Jacobites' entry into fiction and legend. Evelyn Lord is on the board of Continuing Education at the University of Cambridge and is the author of "Investigating the Twentieth Century (2002, Tempus Publishing) and "The Knights Templar (2001, Longman) ""