A disappointing book from Ruth Adams Knight (whose Half Way to Heaven and It Might Be You gave fresh perspectives to both history and contemporary life). this describes a segment of Scottish history as it might have happened in the wake of the attempt made on England by the Spanish Armada in 1588. Prompted by a current attempt on the Isle of Mull to locate the wreck of Florencia, a galleon believed to be sunk in Tobermory Bay, she has recreated a melodramatic and romanticized series of events centering on the adventures of two Spanish youths, Miguel and Sanchez, and Donald and Alan, foster sons of the Toiseach of Clan MacLean. When the Florencia escapes to the north, there is strife between the clans of MacLean and Ranald, and Pereira, its captain, enters into a pact with the MacLean chief (not the Toiseach who is only a dignitary) to fight the Ranalds in return for supplies. But the bargain misfires. Even the boys, who have become friends, are unable to heal the misunderstanding. Donald is threatened with imprisonment by Pereira and Alan, discovering he is the chief's real son, dies saving Donald and exploding the Florencia. There is good material here but trite expressions and too much of an attempt to ladle on the glory turns it into ordinary fare.