It is hard to know for whom this book is intended. The title and introduction suggest it is aimed at the general public, filling a gap between popular but error-filled biographies and specialist works. However, Chris Brown assumes a fairly detailed knowledge of medieval Scottish history in his readers, for example, making frequent references to the events of the mid-fourteenth century, or introducing terms such as the Ragman Rolls without explanation until later in the text. Given his lament about most Scots’ lack of education in their own history (9–10), it is doubtful that such references would be familiar to many readers in Scotland, let alone those living elsewhere.
The first half of the book reconstructs Wallace's career. Brown's laudable aim is to place his life in its proper historical context. It is good to see attention paid to social and economic factors (although the burgesses’ importance is perhaps overemphasized) but surprising that no use is made of R. A. Houston and W. W. J. Knox, eds., Penguin History of Scotland (London, 2001) or Ian Whyte, Scotland before the Industrial Revolution (Harlow, 1995), which both approach medieval Scotland from a social and economic history perspective. For the political context, good use is made of recent work by Fiona Watson, Colm McNamee, and Alan Young, but there is heavy reliance on the older Edinburgh History of Scotland instead of more recent general works. The author's particular interest in military history means that readers are treated throughout the book to detailed discussion of the makeup of medieval armies, the fighters, and strategy.
There is some interesting analysis. Some of Brown's conclusions will likely prove contentious: for example, that Edward I deliberately goaded Balliol into rebellion or that one of the reasons that Wallace supported Balliol was because Bruce would be too great a rival to his political authority. There is a good discussion of Wallace's reasons for abandoning the field at Falkirk. It is also good to see an argument for the importance of Guardians as more than just a stopgap between Wallace and Bruce.
The second half the book explores Wallace's image as it appears in Scottish narrative and English record sources. Brown has performed a useful service in making available in translation a selection of important texts about Wallace. Teachers may wish to supplement this with more detailed background material; for example, almost nothing is said about the historical contexts in which Scottish chroniclers such as Walter Bower, Andrew Wyntoun, and Blind Harry wrote their material. Perhaps if Brown had used recent analyses of the Wallace myth by Graeme Morton in William Wallace, Man and Myth (Stroud: Sutton, 2001) or James Fraser in his article, “‘A Swan from a Raven’: William Wallace, Brucean Propaganda, and Gesta Annalia II” (Scottish Historical Review 81, no. 211 [2002]: 1–22; and his 1999 thesis, cited there, which examined the Wallace image in English chronicles), he might have benefited from insights by these and other historians cited by them. For example, material on Wallace traditionally ascribed to John Fordoun was unlikely to have been written by him. In this section of the book, Brown ignores the work of English chroniclers entirely, apart from Scalacronica. This is odd given that they were more contemporary with Wallace than were the Scottish chroniclers he examines, and that their work helped shape Wallace's image. Indeed the idea of the “low-born Wallace,” which Brown ascribes to later writers, first finds its form in these English chronicles.
Sprinkled throughout are references to “one writer” or “one recent commentator,” generally when Brown disagrees with the individual; such vague references are not helpful in allowing the reader to assess other works on Wallace. One of the few writers identified by name when criticized is James Mackay, author of William Wallace: Brave Heart (Edinburgh, 1995). This is surely a soft target, given Graeme Morton's exposure of how Mackay's book replicated James Fergusson's William Wallace: Guardian of Scotland (London, 1938; in “Review: Sir William Wallace and Other Stories [Unlikely Mostly],” Scottish Affairs, no. 14 [Winter 1996]: 103–15).
In his acknowledgments, Brown comments that although this is his fourth book he has not yet “found an effective and reliable means of blaming others for [his] mistakes” (6). Perhaps a copy editor could fill this role here. Book titles are rendered incorrectly, for example, Mackay's book as well as Elizabeth Gemmill and Nicholas J. Mayhew, Changing Values in Medieval Scotland (Cambridge, 1995). There are mistakes in authors' names (David instead of Michael Penman, MacNamee for McNamee), specialist abbreviations are used without explanation (TRHS, RCAHMS, STS), and articles are dated incorrectly (S. Boardman's 1997 article is dated 1977). Names are rendered inconsistently—Andrew Murray/Moray. Readers wishing to follow up specific points will find the referencing frustrating—sometimes specific pages are given, but often a specific point or quote is given only a general reference: for example, RRS, vol. v. Some quotations are given with no references. Some works in the bibliography seem very specialized for a general audience (several of them consist of untranslated Latin documents), and others have little connection with the text, like Carte Monalium de Northberwic. There is a great deal of repetition, including the discussion of knight service, and the peace that Scotland had enjoyed (sometimes for thirty years, sometimes for fifty) until 1296. Perhaps this book was rushed into print for the seven hundredth anniversary of Wallace's death, another example of what the author calls (126–27) the surprisingly long-term effect of the “Braveheart factor” on Scotland.
