Fighting Mac: The climb to disaster of Sir Hector Macdonald, KCB, DSO, 1853-1903

The Climb to Disaster of Sir Hector Macdonald, KCB, DSO, 1853-1903 In his new novel William Clive tells the story of a remarkable Victorian soldier who, having risen to undreamed of heights, became the tragic victim of social prejudice. Hector Macdonald, the fifth son of a Scottish crofter, enlisted in the ranks of the Gordon Highlanders in 1870. By sheer merit he rose to the rank of Major-General, was aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria and knighted by King Edward VII. He was the nationally-popular 'Fighting Mac' , and the story of his life is the story of the British Army between 1870 and 1903 — India, Afghanistan, South Africa, Egypt, the Sudan, and South Africa again for the Boer War. His contemporaries were Roberts, Kitchener, French, Haig and Ian Hamilton. In 1903, commanding the troops in Ceylon, his reputation was distinguished and his future seemed assured. The tough exterior of Hector Macdonald, however, hid several secrets, unsuspected by his closest associates, and the dramatically tragic fall of the national hero aroused controversy that survives to this day. Only now, following the examination of files that had remained closed for seventy years, have all the pieces of the story been put together. Mr Clive uses all his novelist skill and vast knowledge of life in the Victorian army to tell 'Fighting Mac's' extraordinary story. It includes much exciting action, but above all it highlights the rigid class structure of 'England' in the heyday of Empire. View Less