Robert the Bruce: Our Most Valiant Prince, King and Lord [Paperback]

Colm McNamee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2006

Commemorating the seven hundredth anniversary of the enthronement of Robert I of Scotland, this book is intended as an everyman's guide to Scotland's famous hero king. The life of Bruce is one of the greatest comeback stories in history. Heir and magnate, shrewd politician, briefly 'king of summer' and then a desperate fugitive who nevertheless returned from exile to recover the kingdom he claimed, Bruce became a gifted military leader and a wise statesman, a leader with vision and energy. Colm McNamee combines the most up to date scholarship on this crucial figure in the history of the British Isles with lucid explanation of the medieval context, so that readers of all backgrounds can appreciate Bruce's enormous contribution to the historical impact not just on Scotland, but on England and Ireland too. It is designed to encourage popular reassessment of Bruce as politician, warrior, monarch and saviour of Scottish identity from extinction at the hands of the Edwardian superstate. Peeling back the layers of misconception and propaganda, the author paints an accurate, sympathetic but balanced portrait of a much beloved national hero who has fallen out of fashion of late for no good reason.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Colm McNamee is the Senior Research Officer for the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. He studied at Queens' University, Belfast, and Worcester College, Oxford and has a DPhil in Medieval History. His previous publications include The War of the Bruces, published by Tuckwell Press in 1997, and reprinted by John Donald in 2005.

Product Details

• Paperback: 332 pages
• Publisher: Birlinn Publishers (December 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841584754
• ISBN-13: 978-1841584751
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #870,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Robert the Bruce under the 21 century eyes, December 21, 2007

By 

Shawn Marchinek "McDonald" (Washington State, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Robert the Bruce: Our Most Valiant Prince, King and Lord (Paperback)

Robert Bruce by Colm McNamee was a refreshing yet information filled biography. Mr. McNamee uses many of the common sources for information like Bower, Duncan, and Barbour for info on the Bruce and McDonald and Young for information on the Macdonalds and Comyns. All these academic works are boiled down to something a novice or expert can enjoy in this book.

Colm McNamee mixes some chapters that set the stage or gives us a background into the current history and medieval influences on Scotland during the late 1200s and early 1300s. Then fills in with the chapters of Bruce's campaign to gain the Throne, battles with Edward I, Edward II and finally even Edward III. The final chapter addresses how he has grown into legend since his death and even faded under the shadow of William Wallace. Add to that some simple genealogical tables and simple chapter indexes and you have a great read.

I felt that this tale of the Bruce shows him as a man who made mistakes, was selfish and cruel at times. But also that he never gave up, endured terrible trials and maintained Scotland's independence. This book was like a breath of fresh air and helped take away the veil of myth and legend but also helps put things in perspective of the 14th century Scotland.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written and balanced biography with some novel observations, December 15, 2007

By 

William J. Shepherd (Crofton, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Robert the Bruce: Our Most Valiant Prince, King and Lord (Paperback)

Colm McNamee is to be commended for producing a very well written and balanced biography of Scotland's greatest King, Robert the Bruce. This entertaining work is notable for the greater emphasis it places on King Robert's military operations in both Ireland and northern England rather than the usual focus on the recovery of Scotland itself from the English and the attending civil war there between the supporters of the Bruces and the Balliol/Comyn faction. This book is a more integrated work than his otherwise impressive Wars of the Bruces from 1997 and surely places McNamee in the forefront of Bruce biographers and historians of Medieval Scotland.