Freedom's Sword: The Scottish Wars of Independence

by Peter Traquair and Peter Tragnair

Book Overview

Freedom's Sword brings to life two of Scotland's greatest heroes, William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, and covers the conflict's endgame in the decades after Robert's death in 1329. 30 color... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570982473
• ISBN13: 9781570982477
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Roberts Rinehart Publishers
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

historical masterpiece

Traquair has taken an complex and emotive subject by the scruff of the neck and shaken it free of historical dogma. His grasp of the subject clearly shines through yet he avoids turgid academic language but writes with flare and pace which is so often missing from history texts. If you want an understanding of the Anglo-Scottish conflict that is based on strong research and that avoids the subjects myths and cliches, then read this book. Strongly recommended.

an amazing read!!

Yes, it is pure history and a fresh look at it, but done with a readable craft that nearly makes you forget that. Traquair has a firm control of what he wants to impart.Well researched, loaded with tons of interesting details, maps and pictures - (many colour plates) , I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to have a better understanding of the rise of Wallace and the Bruce and the conflict that caused England and Scotland to go to war.

Barnstorming read.

Peter Traquair's gift is to make a complex narrative readable and enjoyable whilst he retains scholalry assuredness. This is a barnstorming book that takes no prisoners in the pursuit of the truth behind the wars with a genuine feel for the period and the players. He avoids the mythology that damns so many Scottish books and places the wars in their wider context, whether in the Scottish highlands, the Plantagenet court or in the milieu of European warfare. This is a brilliant and rare study. Read it.

The Misery of Medieval Life in England and Scotland

This is an excellent single-volume history of the Anglo-Scottish Wars in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. It strips away the clouds of romantic distortion and sentimentality which for a century and a half have surrounded historical figures such as William Wallace and Robert Bruce and which have more recently been perpetuated on the silver screen. The conflict between the ruling families of England and Scotland are objectively explained in their dynastic and historic contexts, and where emergent nationalist sentiments played a role these are not exaggerated out of proportion. Mr.Traquair steers the reader with a sure hand through the complexities of family relationships and medieval concepts of sovereignty, loyalty and justice. He is no less assured in dealing with the military aspects of the endless series of miserable campaigns involved and in keeping interest up throughout. This is a grim tale of treachery, greed and slaughter on a vast scale and it is a tribute to the author that he so convincingly conveys the nature and mentality of a society that accepted this state of affairs as the norm for its existence over decades. In its credible recreation of the medieval period this book has much in common with Zoe Oldenbourg's histories of the First to Third Crusades ("The Crusades") and of the Albigensian Crusade ("Massacre at Montsegur)".

Fantastic, the best Scottish interest book in 20 years!

Peter Traquair has managed to fuse a high degree of academic knowledge with an even greater degree of readibility and passion to produce this incredible tour-de-force work on the Scottish wars of independence. This is a must read for anyone interested in Scottish/British/European history. Avoid pretenders to the throne, Traquair is the ONLY Scottish historian worth reading today.