Set during the Jacobite uprising of 1745 under Bonnie Prince Charlie, The Flight of the Heron is the first of Broster's Jacobite Trilogy.

The fortunes Ewen Cameron, a young Highland laird in the service of the Prince, and that of Major Keith Windham, a world-weary cynic of a soldier in the English army, become linked when a Highlander with the second sight tells Ewen that the flight of a heron will lead to five meetings with an Englishman who is fated both to do him a great service and to cause him great grief.

As Bonnie Prince Charlie’s ill-fated campaign winds to its bitter end, the prophecy is proven true—and through many dangers and trials, Ewen and Keith—opposites in almost every way—find they have one thing in common: both are willing to sacrifice everything for their honour.