The Rising Sun is a tour de force of historical fiction, an extraordinary first novel from a major new talent that vividly brings to life the age of adventure-from the bustling atmosphere of Edinburgh in the exuberance of the early days of the Scottish Enlightenment, to the danger and deprivations of seventeenth-century seafaring, to the savage horrors of colonial life in the tropics. In 1698, five vessels led by the flagship Rising Sun embarked on a perilous voyage for the northern coast of what is now Panama, where the passengers intended to found a colony at Darien. With them went the hopes and fortunes of the nation of Scotland, which sought to build an overseas empire so that it could at last compete on the world stage with its rival, England. Douglas Galbraith's The Rising Sun is the story of this mission and its tragic outcome, as recorded by the ship's superintendent of cargoes, Roderick Mackenzie. A young man of promise and ambition, Mackenzie is quickly caught up in the intrigues of his fellow colonists-rivalries that will prove overwhelming as nationalist optimism gives way to the brutal realities of their hardscrabble life and rain, mud slides, and disease assault the Scottish encampment. As it follows Mackenzie's adventures from the bordellos of Edinburgh to the dense jungles of the New World, Galbraith's book is lush with historical detail and brilliantly renders an extraordinary tale that evokes the essence of a fascinating age.