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Information about this book was provided by its publisher in 2011. The description given is not an independent review. All details are subject to change, especially pricing. Please use the contact links at the top of this page to notify any innacuracy.

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James Macpherson; eds. Allan Burnett and Linda Andersson Burnett.
Blind Ossian's Fingal: Fragments and Controversy.
Publisher: Luath Press.
Publication due: March 2011.
Size: 21.2 x 13.8 x 2.4 cm.
Page count: 192.

Publisher's recommended price
Hardback ISBN 9781906817558, £15.00

Description:

To the accompaniment of the harp, Ossian enchanted his third-century listeners with tales of savage battles, magnanimous victories, graceful defeats, doomed romances and bloody feuds. The rediscovered Ossianic epics inspired the Romantic movement in Europe, but caused a political storm in Britain and up to recently have been denounced as one of the greatest literary hoaxes of all time.

When James Macpherson published his translations of the poetry of Ossian, a third-century Highland bard, they were an instant success. However, the plaudits soon gave way to controversy. Were the poems part of a great Gaelic oral tradition, or the work of Macpherson's imagination?

"They contain the purest and most animating principles and examples of true honour, courage and discipline, and all the heroic virtues that can possibly exist." Napoleon

Editors Allan Burnett and Linda Andersson Burnett take a fresh look at the twists and turns of the Ossian story. They investigate the controversy surrounding the poems, what inspired Macpherson to put such works together, and provide an insight into why the poems captured the public imagination. This volume includes Fragments of Ancient Poetry and Fingal together with contemporary commentary.