Robert The Bruce King Of Scots

Robert the Bruce had himself crowned King of Scots at Scone on a frozen March morning in 1306. After years of struggle, Scotland had been reduced to a vassal state by Edward I of England and its people lived in poverty. On the day he seized the crown Bruce renewed the fight for Scotland's freedom, and let forth a battle cry that would echo through the centuries. Using contemporary accounts, Ronald McNair Scott tells the story of Scotland's legendary leader, and one of Europe's most remarkable medieval kings. It is a story with episodes as romantic as those of King Arthur, but also one which belongs in the annals of Scottish History, and has shaped a nation.

Robert the Bruce (1274-1329) was the famous unifier of Scotland and defeater of the English at Bannockburn - the legendary hero responsible for Scottish independence. Michael Penman retells the story of Robert's rise - his part in William Wallace's revolt against Edward I, his seizing of the Scottish throne after murdering his great rival John Comyn, his excommunication, and devastating battles against an enemy Scottish coalition - climaxing in his victory over Edward II's forces in June 1314. He then draws attention to the second part of the king's life after the victory that made his name.

Ronald McNair Scott recounts the story of one of the most remarkable and admirable medieval kings, from when Robert the Bruce had himself crowned King of Scots at Scone to his death, when his faithful follower, the legendary 'Black' Douglas, bore his heart in a silver casket to the Holy Land --from dust jacket.

Robert the Bruce was Scotland's greatest King ever. The Bruce, as he was known, was crowned King of Scots in 1306, a time when the ancient kingdom of Scotland was under harsh and illegal English occupation. As soon as King Robert began his reign, his army was treacherously attacked at Methven, resulting in a calamitous defeat for the Scots which forced the Bruce into hiding. Yet, steadily between 1307 and 1313 King Robert won battle after battle, shunning pitched medieval clashes, and fighting as a guerilla force, a form of warfare which he, perhaps, invented. The war peaked in 1314 when the Bruce faced a formidable English invasion. With brilliant tactics and resolute bravery the vastly outnumbered Scots defeated and routed the knights, archers, and foot soldiers of mighty England at the Battle of Bannockburn. And that's only the first part of this epic tale of the Bruce's long and event-filled life. The Great Scot is a novel filled with valor, treachery, passionate love, journeys great and small, and people of every rank and situation-all from the pages of Scottish history.

A biography of a great Scottish hero, who brought independence to Scotland which argues that the historic figure is not the same as the undoubtedly genuine hero of popular mythology.