"An Instrument of War"

In the eyes of the law......

By: Sam Skinner

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

COMPLETE EDITION

A tale of a special breed of warriors, bagpipers, who lead from the front as the British Empire ruled the waves and became the empire the sun never set on.

Historical fiction - 1900 South Africa - The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders face off with the Boers in the 2nd Boer War. Twin brothers from Pitlochry, Scotland pipe the Highland Brigade to battle. Their story, what it takes to be a piper, and how it turns out is a fascinating tale of adventure, daring, whisky, and lasses.

Ten years in the writing of this story by a piper with over 25 years experience playing in two different pipe bands all over Texas and Oklahoma. Tutored along the way by several St. Thomas Alumni Pipers. Thoroughly researched with trips to locales in Scotland, including the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Winter Storm in Kansas City, visit to J.Scott Skinner museum in Aberdeen, museums all over Inverness, Edinburgh .and many others.

Little known true histories of battles, minor celebrities, piping, pipers, drummers, clans, bagpipes, Scotland, Cuba, New Mexico, and Texas.

Includes compositions, speeches, poems, and true histories by such as Robert Burns, Sir Harry Lauder, John Greenleaf Whittier, Theodore Roosevelt, Reverend John Skinner, J. Scott Skinner, and Sir Walter Scott.

Story takes place from 1876 to 1910, the pinnacle of the British Empire. Hard lessons are learned by the British military as new technology changes military tactics.

The twins, their family, and their upbringing run from Scotland to Texas to New Mexico to Cuba to South Africa. Along the way there are appearances of the likes of President Teddy Roosevelt, a young Winston Churchill, Andrew Carnegie, General Sir Hector MacDonald, J. Scott Skinner (famous Scottish fiddler and composer), Major Frederick Russell Burnham (founder of the Boy Scouts and Chief of Scouts for General Lord Kitchener), Cecil Rhodes and others.

Pipe competitions in Crieff, The Northern Meeting in Inverness, concerts in Aberdeen, Inverness, and Pitlochry.

All woven into a history worth knowing and a tale worth reading.

If you like British military and or Scots history and literature this is a book you will enjoy.