Bonnie Prince Charlie is celebrated in Scotland as the Young Pretender, Charles Stuart, the hero whose claim to the British throne divided the kingdom and shook the opulent monarchies of continental Europe In this compelling and absorbing biography, Carolly Erickson brings all her masterly skills to bear in telling the story of the motley band of Highland rebels who challenged George III and embraced Bonnie Prince Charlie as their last hope. She tells the story of their crushing defeat, chronicling with bone-chilling accuracy the massacre at Culloden, where women wailed through the silent spring night after the battle, identifying corpses of their loved ones. Erickson follows Charles after the disaster, homeless but seldom friendless, as he lived out his picaresque life on the continent. Tormented by his own inner demons, the boy-hero gradually became an irascible, misogynistic old man, closeted with his memories of the windswept moors of Scotland, still clinging to the belief that he was meant to be king. From Publishers Weekly Tudor family biographer Erickson ( Mistress Anne , etc.) chronicles the tumultuous life of the last Stuart heir, Charles III. In 1745, energetic and charismatic Bonnie Prince Charlie emerged from exile in Italy and France in an attempt to recapture the throne of his Catholic father, James Stuart III, from George II, an intolerant Protestant Hanoverian. In addition to succinct and relevant expositions of European politics, the author's narrative includes character portraitssometimes of a speculative natureand vignettes of conditions such as the luxury and squalor of Rome of Charles's childhood, or the remote, rugged Western Islands of Scotland. There the bonnie prince won the loyalty of Highlanders by sharing the hardships of their ill-fated invasion of England. Charles was defeated, according to the author, because of overcautious advisers, delay of French support and slaughter of his reduced, ill-equipped troops at Culloden Moor. His ambitions shattered, he was abandoned by his long-suffering mistress and wife, and comforted only by a loyal daughter. Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club and International Collectors Library alternate s. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Charles Edward Stuart, the subject of many biographies, has always been surrounded by an aura of romance and mystery. Here Erickson, noted biographer of Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I, and Henry VIII, among others, presents a credible, readable portrait of the "Bonnie Prince," while simultaneously clearing up many of the enigmas associated with him. She is perhaps kinder to the Stuart pretender than he deserves, but there is no denying either her mastery of the available printed sources or her ability to breathe empathetic life into her subject. This book is delightful reading, thanks both to the nature of its subject and Erickson's telling touch.