From its first publication in 1816 Rob Roy has been recognised as containing some of Scott's finest writing and most engaging, fully realised characters. The outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor was already a legendary, disputed figure by the time Scott wrote - a heroic Scottish Robin Hood to some, an over-glamorised, unprincipled predator to others. Scott approaches 'Rob Roy' indirectly, through the adventures of his fictional hero, Frank Osbaldistone, amid the political turmoil of England and Scotland in 1715. With characteristic care Scott reconstructs the period and settings so as to place Rob Roy and the Scotland he inhabits amid conflicting moral, economic and historical forces. This edition features, besides a new critical introduction and extensive explanatory notes, an essay outlining clearly the novel's historical context and a glossary of Scottish words and phrases used by Scott's colourful, vernacular characters. AUTHOR Sir Walter Scott (1771 1832) was a Scottish novelist, playwright and poet. He is notable for being the first British author that gained an international reputation during his lifetime. Although the romanticism of his historic fiction later fell out of favour with critics, his major novels, such as 'Rob Roy' and 'Ivanhoe', are acknowledged as classic works of literature.