William Wallace: Man and Myth - Hardcover

Morton, Graeme

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0750923792 ISBN 13: 9780750923798

Publisher: Sutton Pub Ltd, 2001

Synopsis

Based on original research, William Wallace is the first full examinationof both contemporary sources and of the way the Wallace myth has been constructed.

About this title

About the Author:

Graeme Morton is Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of Unionist-Nationalism: Governing Urban Scotland, 1830-1860 (Tuckwell Press, 1999), Locality, Community and Nation (Hodder and Stoughton, 1998) and a number of articles and essays in journals and edited volumes. He is also an occasional contributor to press and radio on matters to do with Scottish nationalism. He lives in Kirkcaldy, Fife.

From Publishers Weekly:

"The Wallace story is part of Scotland's imagined community.... We can't break the story because there is no story." In this densely written scholarly study, the author, a professor at Edinburgh University, examines the legends that have surrounded the exploits of William Wallace (1274-1305). Wallace is credited with liberating Scotland by defeating the English at Stirling Bridge (1297); his stature as the savior of Scotland has been reinforced by the recent film Braveheart. Later Wallace was vanquished by Edward I of England at Falkirk (1298). He lived as an outlaw and guerilla fighter until he was betrayed to the English, tried and bloodily executed in 1305. The author researched the very slim historical sources available and found problems with corroborating evidence. Much of Wallace's early reputation, for example, rested on the verse of "blind Harry," who wrote in the late 15th century. According to Morton, Harry's poetry has been romanticized and is almost certainly filled with errors. Ballads, songs and biographies of later centuries extolling Wallace's heroism are based on patriotism rather than truth. Morton also investigates how the myth of Wallace served both Scottish nationalism and socialism. In recent years the Wallace cult has grown, due to video games and Web sites. Although the author does not argue for completely abandoning national myths that cannot be proven, his hope for the Wallace mystique is that it is time to "lay his ghost to rest."

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sutton Pub Ltd
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0750923792
• ISBN 13: 9780750923798
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224