This book contains illustrations of up to 400 tartans, making it the most comprehensive directory of tartans, both ancient and modern, ever published. It details the cultural and historical development of Scotland, and her determination to maintain political independence and national identity. It illustrates how tartan is used to unite and identify a diverse ancestral tradition. Here the brave history of this romantic cloth is examined in detail, covering the span of Scotland's history and the manner in which tartan was enmeshed in her struggle for international independence and cultural identity. The history of Scotland is a long and rich one, and the story of tartan is inextricably woven into it, but tartan is also very much part of the modern world, both as a continuing tradition and as a declaration of affiliation, by Scots all around the globe. In this book is an unprecedented collection of tartans, ancient and modern, traditional and obscure, mainstream and idiosyncratic, from the major clans who have dominated Scotland's destiny, to today's individuals and societies who use tartan to declare an allegiance.