Freedom's Sword: Scotland's Wars of Independence [Hardcover]

Peter Traquair (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1998

"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 illustrations. B&W illustrations & maps.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Denver Museum of; 1St Edition edition (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570982473
• ISBN-13: 978-1570982477
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,358,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Misery of Medieval Life in England and Scotland, August 25, 1999

By 

Donal A. O'Neill - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freedom's Sword: Scotland's Wars of Independence (Hardcover)

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)".

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, the best Scottish interest book in 20 years!, February 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Freedom's Sword: Scotland's Wars of Independence (Hardcover)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Barnstorming read., October 12, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Glasgow) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freedom's Sword: Scotland's Wars of Independence (Hardcover)

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.