The first full account of the Scottish insurrection of 1820 - the final, doomed challenge to the Act of Union of 1707, a potentially explosive threat to the British Crown, and the last concerted attempt by Scottish working class radicals to establish an independent Scottish Parliament. The authors detail the involvement of government agents provocateurs in fomenting the insurrection and look, too, at the aftermath of the revolt. In 88 trials for high treason, the verdicts of death, imprisonment and transportation virtually annihilated the radical movement in southern Scotland. The historical treatment of the uprising is almost as interesting as the uprising itself. Publication renewed interest in the period and gave rise to the formation of the 1820 society. Debates continue as to the reasons for its apparent concealment from earlier official histories. This is the only book on the uprising, and is regarded as the authoritative account. Peter Berresford Ellis is a well known author - editor of Connolly's Selected Writings and of History of the Irish Working Class, Seumus Mac A'Ghobhainn, author and propagandist, was active in the Scottish Gaelic language movement for many years, until his death in 1987.