Customer Reviews

William Wallace: Brave Heart

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a Wallace aficionado, i looked forward to reading this, but to say i was disappointed was an understatement.
This badly researched book was full of inaccuracies.
The author puts forward an alternative Wallace birthplace, putting forward detail that the unsuspecting reader would probably take on board. For instance, he says "Corsbie is of course, now known as Crosshouse", whereas these two places are seperate entities.
He places one monument, that of Leglen Wood, 20 miles away from its correct location, and claims Wallace was born in Ayrshire, whereas the Wallace family were vassals of the Stewart family, who never owned land in this area, and so Wallace could not have been born there.
Dates are wrong, one monument he claims was built in 1970, was actually built in 1910.
I feel the author, no stranger to controversy, has jumped on the Wallace bandwagon, and has rushed this work out to take advantage of the boom caused by Braveheart. Many people see details in print, and assume they are true. This book has so many inaccuracies that it will actually lead its readers astray.

Since the Mel Gibson movie came out William Wallace has gained a following well outside of Scotland. It is nice to get a look at the true "Braveheart" instead of the Hollywood version. The very best thing about this book is how easy it is to read. Not being at all familar with Scottish history during this period I was afraid I would quickly become lost. Much to my delight that was not the case in fact I was able to follow what was going on with very little problem. The only real problem I have with the book is that MacKay often refers to someone once by their name and the next time by their title. For example the future king is sometimes refered to as Robert Bruce and sometimes as the Earl of Carrick. It is hard enough to keep up with all of the names thrown at you in this book without having to keep up with a name AND a title for each person.

While reading this book keep in mind that Mr. MacKay has little materal to work with from the time period. Most of his research is taken from materal that dates well after Wallace's death. Still by looking at this material along with what records do exist from the period he does a good job of telling us what probably did happen. In fact, this is probably as close as we will ever get to the real story. That is unless new records are found which is very possible. MacKay points out several places where in the future new records may be found including Rome where Wallace may have visited Pope Boniface VIII looking for aid for Scotland. It is known as a fact that King Edward did get a letter from the Pope about his treatment of the Scots.

This is a great read for anyone interested in Scottish history or anyone who enjoyed the Gibson movie. The reader will find for example that Wallace's wife was not killed before he began his raids. She was killed in fact while protecting Wallace. Let the movie make you wonder. Let this book fill in the gaps. Even for someone not into history at all this will be a joy to read.

James A Mackay's biography of William Wallace is a must read for anyone interested in heroic exploits. While the William Wallace portrayed by Mackay is different from the version portrayed by Mel Gibson, the discriminating reader will be rewarded. Mackay does a masterful job in researching a figure whose reputation has been clouded throughout history. Due to the linguistics of the Scottish dialect the book initially lags, but the reader will not be disappointed. The author must be commended for bringing to life a figure who was truly "larger than life."

A great read but contains some obviously false claims about Wallace's birthplace. For a novelised and more readable life story try Nigel Tranter's The Wallace or for a more useful and accurate look at Wallace and Scotland try On The Trail of William Wallace by David R. Ross

Given - the author did a lot of research about Willaim Wallace - but he doesn't have to explain every step of research he did for the book. I want to read about the story - not go through the difficulties of writting the book. It is a 288 page book that could have been written in 150 pages. When you get through the torrtorous paragraphs of his extensive research - this is actually a pretty good book. It gives a good description of William Wallace. But if you want to read the story of Wallace - try another author. This one does great research - but a bad job on writting it.

The story of William Wallace is based on a very few sources of widely varying credibility. When one is faced with such a situation, there are two courses of action possible. Ronald Williams facing an even greater dearth in his excellent LORD OF THE ISLES compensated by filling in the background so that the resulting read was a much richer experience. Unfortunately, MacKay seemed to spend over half the time dealing with inconsistencies of his sources. This makes for great scholarly debates -- but I think it should be relegated to the footnotes.

When I read a book about so exciting a figure as William Wallace, I do not want to know where Blind Harry went wrong and a competing source was a tad better. I want to know why the peerage of Scotland was so fickle, why Edward I had such a thing about crushing the Scots and Wallace in particular, and why -- after Falkirk -- Edward was so ineffectual in conquering Scotland.

I write this review as possibly the only Scottish person who hated the film- after reading this book it was huge disappointment.

MacKay's book is very engaging, providing a very powerful tale of one of Scotland's two biggest hero's that is very enjoyable to read. Wallace's rise from obscurity into a national hero, his massive victory against the odds followed by his spectacularly rapid fall from grace are truly inspirational. Furthermore MacKay has made the effort to try to correct common misconceptions and redirects the spotlight onto those important figures whom are commonly neglected. No, unlike Mel Gibsons claims, William Wallace didn't believe in 'The American Dream'. No, he didn't reluctantly resort to violence and war as a last resort and in revenge for a loved one- he relished battles out of hatred for the english oppressors and corrupt scottish barons. And finally, no the Irish soldiers didn't change sides and join the scots out of a desire to please Irish-Americans and thus increase box office takings for a motion picture to be made hundreds of years later- they stuck with the english against their fellow celts.

There is a large problem, namely how much of the book can be trusted as being true. As very little documentation from the period exists, Mackay heavily uses a poem written by 'Blind Harry', which in turn was based on a second hand account by a church figure. Thus parts such as the claim Wallace rose from near death, must be taken with a pinch of salt. In addition Mackay sometimes bombards the reader with too many names at once, which makes it harder to decipher who the main figures are.

Still, I would certainly recommend the book as a fine historical tale, which is about as close to the truth as we are likely to get. Oh and to find out what happened next, read Caroline Bingham's book on Robert the Bruce.

The legend of William Wallace facinates me, and this book offered an in depth insight into his life. James MacKay really did a good job of researching this subject. It is a tough read, but full of facts to keep you interested. Reminds me of the "Similarian" by tolken, numerous names to keep track of, but far better.

Worth Reading, if your are into History.

P.S. I read this one for fun, not coursework

As a child of 9 I picked out the decor for my new room - Wallace Plaid - which dumbfounded my family since our Clans were MacGillivray, Ogilvie, Grant, Fraser and Montgomerie! But I thought Wallace such a great, sweeping figure. This was decades before Randall Wallace accidentally discovered William Wallace on a vacation in Scotland and read Anne Porter's Highland Chiefs. Wallace, to me, was such a true Patriot - not a Saint, but a man willing to go to the wall, to die for what he believed. Not many of us would walk in his shoes, so I have to admire his willingness to die for an idea.
James MacKay gives a richly details account of the Scottish clime of politics that formed and fermented Wallace. It might be a little bit more than the average reader would be interested in (I would suggest Grey's book on Wallace in that case), but for those wishing to know more without wading through Blind Harry, this is a wonderful work.

A perfect gift to that friend that watched Braveheart more than once!!

Anyone could have written a work of near-fiction about William Wallace, and the screenwriter for "Braveheart" comes first to mind. Those interested in as nearly factual a story as possible, and wanting assurance that it *IS* factual, would find this book far more enjoyable than one written lazily by someone afraid of scaring off the faint of mind.