A Merchant*s Tale: The Adventures of a 19th Century Scottish Trader

A Merchant's Tale gives a fascinating account of the life of a Scottish trader during the first half of the 19th century. Childhood and school-days in Edinburgh during the reign of George III, are followed by challenging years spent seeking a fortune in the Americas and Australia. James Macintyre's tale of sea voyages and land journeys, descriptions of people and places and eye-witness accounts of events surrounding the political and social turmoil of the times is told with wit and perception.

Most of the great travellers of the past wrote and published contemporary accounts which were popular in their lifetimes. James Macintyre's A Merchant's Tale, written originally for his family, is being published exactly two hundred years after his birth and is in many ways the more interesting and valuable for that. The bridge of time, which makes the events he describes strange to us even if the locations are familiar, and the careful editing, which two of his great-grandchildren have meticulously undertaken, together make a fascinating book.

The events of an exciting period of history, when merchant venturers were grasping the opportunities created by the French Revolution, the collapse of Spanish power in the New World and the rapid development of the British colonies, are vividly brought to life by a conscientious and witty observer with an enquiring mind.