Rises and Falls of the Royal Stewarts

This is the 1,000-year saga of the remarkable Scottish family, who began as stewards, then became Stewarts, the Royal Stewarts, and finally Stuarts. They were remarkable not only for the continuity of the male line, which went for 26 generations without a break, but also for the 340 years that they held on to sovereign power. Yet, despite the longevity of the dynasty, the lives of many individuals were violent and short. Of the fourteen Stewart monarchs, eight failed to reach the age of fifty. S…