An example of pre-professional history, the Tales of a Grandfather chronicles the French royalty's dynastic concerns and principal military-political engagements with foreign powers from 1412 to 1512. Scott's narrative opens with Henry V's preparations for war with France and an account of the persisting rivalry between the houses of Orleans and of Burgundy.

Of particular interest is Scott's description of the murder of John the Fearless at Montereau in 1419 and his tracing of that event's disastrous effects through the fifteenth century.

Scott drew on standard sources, but the interpretation of the material and the historical vision are his own. Modern readers will be especially engaged by his interpretation of the character of Joan of Arc. Readers will also be interested to compare Scott's treatment of history and its leading figures with his novels set in the same period and country, namely, Quentin Durward and Anne of Geierstein.