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Seven hundred years ago
King Edward I of England crossed the Scottish border with a powerful army
and began one of the epic struggles of the Middle Ages - the Scottish Wars
of Independence.
For England the aim of the
war was simple: to establish an imperial sway over the whole of the
British Isles. Scotland had to prevail against its powerful southern
neighbour or face national obliteration.
The Anglo-Scots conflict
can be divided into two distinct phases: the First War of Independence,
which concluded when England recognised Robert Bruce as King of Scots in
1328; and the Second War of Independence, in which the English tried to
oust Bruce’s son and successor David II, and place their own puppet king,
Edward Balliol, on the throne of Scotland.
This book is the first
attempt to embrace in a single volume the whole course of the wars, from
the invasion of 1296 to the release of David from English captivity in
1357. It aims to bring alive to a modern audience one of the great dramas
of British history, and to help them understand what was one of the most
formative periods of the whole Scottish national experience. |
