This book remains the classic account of the origin of the clan among the Celtic people of Europe. It describes how the clan system was brought to Scotland, where it first enjoyed a new lease of life, and discusses its subsequent anachronism in a rapidly changing country. The relationship between a remote government and a society increasingly resistant to change was inevitably tense, and the final consequence of this was the brutal destruction of a whole social structure. Yet after this the clan system was revived as a model of romantic celebration and pride." "Ian Grimble tells this extraordinary story both as a whole and through the history of its largest clan groupings - Gordons, Macgregors, Mackenzies, Stewarts, Macdonalds and Campbells. - Publisher.