Book excerpt: James the First of Scots was an extraordinary man: poet, thinker warrior, athlete and statesman. And prisoner - for he was held captive for almost half his adult life. He possessed that fatal Stewart capacity to arouse both love and hatred; to attract both undying loyalty and the darkest treachery. His romance with the proud English beauty Joanna Beaufort is one of the great love stories of history, and the love for him of Catherine Douglas, one of the most poignant. In this compelling novel, Nigel Tranter vividly recreates the turbulent life of a remarkable man and the troubled times in which he lived.