A Dialogue on the Law of Kingship among the Scots

'It is good to have a suitable edition of this important work... The translation is faithful and clear, the introduction a balanced and learned essay in its own right, and the notes judicious and scholarly.' TLS '... meticulous and scholarly...' Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 'Buchanan's brief text is here accompanied by enough material to produce a monograph-length study. The heart of it is a parallel-text edition of the De Iure Regni, bolstered by fifty pages of notes and commentary, all executed with the meticulous care which we have come to expect from Ashgate's St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History. Much of the worth of the volume, however, comes from its lengthy introduction, which draws heavily on three earlier articles by Mason on Buchanan's life and work. The result is a synthesis which not only introduces Buchanans' text, but also provides one of the best and most accessible introductions to Buchanan himself now in print.' H-Net Review 'George Buchanan [...] has a lot to answer for, and this edition of his most influential work makes his ideas accessible for the first time in a high-quality modern translation... The introduction provides [...] an engaging discussion of the work itself and the scholarly debates relating to it. The presentation of the parallel texts on facing pages is very welcome, allowing one to compare the translation with the original with ease. The crowning glory of the work is the final section of notes and commentary. It is a treasury of fascinating detail which is testimony to the meticulous work of the editors in tracing the classical, biblical and historical sources for Buchanan's examples and analogies, as well as providing discussions of specific translations and pointing the reader to more detailed works discussing particular aspects of the issues raised. We owe a debt of gratitude to the late Martin Smith for embarking on the project, to Roger Mason for completing the work, and to those in charge of the St Andrews Studies in Reformation History series for publishing it. Journal of Early Modern History 'Anyone interested in monarchy, political science, and history will [...] find this an enlightening text with many debates that are still topical today. Roger Mason and Martin Smith have done scholarship a great service in publishing this crisp, new translation of De Iure Regni apud Scotos Dialogus.' Sixteenth Century Journal