Wallace

Very nicely written and researched. Not a great biography but more a political thesis on the Scottish Wars for independence.

Peter Reese was a soldier and rightfully concentrates on the military career of William Wallace. As a responsible scholar he also acknowledges the dearth of contemporary records of what actually happened during the Scottish wars of independence. Although some may find it annoying or confusing, the author is understandably forced to cite his sources so that he may present the material in the most objective form as possible. In a sense, the book is more scholarly than biographic, building upon the writings of previous Wallace biographers who also must have been challenged by the lack of records from the period. Despite this, he deduces from common sense and the trends of the era to portray what Wallace's life may have been like. His honesty is proof that history should be learned from sources other than Hollywood.There are a few weaknesses, however. The maps were helpful but somewhat incomplete. Major towns and fiefdoms mentioned throughout the book cannot be found in the maps of Scotland. The diagrams of Stirling and Falkirk are great but lack some important details (they might've sacrificed detail for greater area). Nonetheless these are minor points compared to the one factor I found very problematic. The author makes sweeping assumptions several times throughout his work, mostly concerning the character and essence of a certain people or race. Though cultures have strong mores or habits, that does not apply to entire peoples who may undergo several cultural transformations. In his assumptions the author stands dangerously close to stereotyping, however harmless his conclusions.Overall the book is a well-researched and honest account of Scotland's famed freedom fighter. The bibliography at the end is interesting in and of itself. It certainly moves one to explore further the mystery of William Wallace, a true nationalist.

William Wallace must have been a stunningly charismatic and daring leader. That certainly comes across in this biography by Peter Reese. However, the book doesn't quite pull you along as such an incredible life should. Perhaps that is due to the very few facts we really know about Wallace.Nevertheless, Reese gets the facts correct so far as I can tell and paints a good picture of the time in which Wallace lived. One does get a pretty good sense of Scotland itself, its people, culture, and society. England and its kings, particularly Edward I, are examined in detail as well.The battles are explained in good detail and the reader can get a fairly good sense of how the main battles went. The maps, both of the battles and Scotland, are somewhat lacking, as others have noted.The book, while correcting some facts about Wallace that the movie Braveheart missed, doesn't force one to reject the picture of Wallace in Braveheart. Certainly some events depicted in the movie were subject to creative license. The movie certainly doesn't show why Wallace won the battle of Stirling bridge, namely that the Scottish cut off and annihilated a large element of the English forces by taking and blocking the bridge. The book does verify his use of large wooden spears against the mounted knights, his poor relations with the Scottish nobility, and his rise from the common class. And the movie, of course, rightly portrays medieval warfare, perhaps too well! It would seem that Wallace certainly must've been the sort of passionate man envisioned in the movie.All things considered, if you like Wallace, you'll probably enjoy the book. It's Wallace the man we would all like to know more about but perhaps the fine details are too sparse to enjoy a full picture.

For a cut and paste biography, this book does an excellent job of conveying facts (or offering up what may be facts) and making it plain that certain things are under speculation. It offers different opinions from different sources, but lacks personal touch. It wasn't emotionally engaging in the least, unless you care more about dates than the man himself.