Rob Roy is set in 1715-16, yet it concerns not the conduct of the Jacobite Rising, but the economic and social conditions which gave rise to it. It celebrates the freebooting capitalism of the hero's father in the City of London, and the actual freebooting of Rob Roy, "the Robin Hood of Scotland, the dread of the wealthy, but the friend of the poor." And through Baillie Nicol Jarvie, one of Scott's most lively creations, it explores the delicate balance of generosity and selfish calculation that is required in all successful enterprise.

The text is based upon the first edition, corrected with readings from the manuscript, and is supplied for the very first time with comprehensive historical and explanatory annotation.

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Young Frank Osbaldistone, sent to live in Scotland, is drawn to the powerful figure of Rob Roy MacGregor, who, with his wife, fights for justice and dignity for Scotland. Twists of plot and a romantic outlaw's cunning escapes make this a classic epic....

Woodstock opens in farce, yet it is one of Scott's darkest novels. It deals with revolution, to Scott the most disturbing of all subjects: "it appears that every step we made towards liberty has but brought us in view of more terrific perils." Written during the financial crisis that culminated in his insolvency, the novel, Scott feared, "would not stand the test." Yet it is a major source of interest: in the superb portrait of Cromwell it is tempting to see Scott's own self torturing as he contemplated his ruin....

The Siege of Malta is one of Scott's most moving works. The story of the Siege itself is remarkable, with its combination of individual defeat and group survival against overwhelming odds. It had been part of Scott's mental furniture from his early days, and it acquires a new and powerful resonance when remembered alongside his then-failing health. To read it is an enlarging experience, which anyone at all interested in Scott should share.
The incomplete narrative of Bizarro is also a fascinating document from the end of Scott's life. In it he returns to the figure of the bandit/outlaw which had intrigued him all his life and had played such an important part in two of his greatest novels, in the persons of Rob Roy himself in Rob Roy and Robin Hood in Ivanhoe.
* The only available editions of these two works by Scott
* Provides reading texts that remain broadly faithful to the manuscripts, but tidying them up in the way that the original intermediaries might have been expected to do
* Diplomatic transcriptions, which involves attempting to reproduce the manuscripts as faithfully as possible in type, using appropriate conventions to indicate deletions and doubtful readings
* Access to a digital reproduction of the manuscripts on an accompanying CD
* An Essay on the Text that outlines its genesis and composition, describing the manuscripts, and presenting and illustrating the procedures involved in preparing the reading text
* A Historical Note and set of Explanatory Notes along with a combined Glossary
* Accompanying CD containing digital photographs of the manuscripts.

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