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fifteenth century, for the study of the plot itself is now prefaced by three thought- provoking if rather selective chapters on events since the usurpation of 1399. What a mediocre lot they turn out to be-even Henry V, who is singled out for particular criticism in a final chapter. Pugh also delivers side-swipes at that monarch's well- known and highly influential apologist, K. B. McFarlane. The value of Pugh's book lies in the author's detailed knowledge of the family and financial backgrounds of the conspirators, in his excellent understanding of Welsh and Marcher interests, and in his helpfully annotated re-edition of the confessions of the conspirators. That the plot remains an enigma is not his fault. Any historical investigation entirely dependent on 'confessions' would be equally inconclusive, for it is difficult to gauge when the parties are consciously minimising their own roles, exaggerating someone else's or having their stories fabricated by their prosecutors. In this case, the task is exacerbated by the fragmentary survival of the key texts. One of the most perplexing things, perhaps not stressed enough by Pugh, is that we have no idea what the earl of March said to the king in his revelation of the plot. No chronicler tells us and all couch their mention of March in the most judicious of terms. Nor, of course, do we really know how much support there was from the late 1390s onwards for the Mortimers' claim to the throne. It was never in Lancastrian interests to say, for they had swept aside rival claims in their own usurpation. Moreover, the new dynasty was assisted by the fact that risings against Henry IV were fatally flawed: they neither focussed wholeheartedly on the Mortimers nor succeeded in any of their aims. In the Southampton plot of 1415, the plan to crown March again emerges as only one of many schemes, all of which seem hare-brained and little more than empty talk because they failed. Likewise, Pugh's conclusion that 'for Richard Plantagenet, the Southampton plot of 1415 was the start of the feud between the Houses of Lancaster and York' (p. 134), and that his claim to the throne in 1460 avenged his father's death (p. 135) is wisdom derived entirely from hindsight. Much fresh water, as well as blood, passed under the bridge in the interim. ANNE E. CURRY Reading SCOTTISH SOCIETY. 1500-1800. Edited by R. A. Houston and I. D. Whyte. Cambridge University Press. 1989. Pp. xii, 298. £ 30.00. This volume of essays is intended to present 'a series of studies of major themes in Scottish social history', with an emphasis on 'setting the Scottish experience within the context of other contemporary European societies'. The range of central topics in early modern Scottish social history which are tackled in the volume is an impressive tribute to the high level of activity in the field today, and to the way in which historians are now applying the techniques and insights of modern social history to Scotland. To knit the book together, the editors provide a general introduction, 'Scottish Society in perspective', and the volume is rounded off by distinguished Irish and English