1314 Bannockburn
By Aryeh J. S. Nusbacher - Paperback £6.59 / $17.90
Recent scholarship has illuminated one of the most exciting battles of Scottish history, showing it to be as historically significant as it was romantic and bloody. This book carries the reader through the politics and plans of a military campaign of the Middle Ages. Using recent studies on weapons, warfare, and Scottish history, as well as sound archival sources, this book opens the files on a year's preparation for a massive English invasion of Scotland. In addition to the heroic legends, Bannockburn 1314 examines the common soldiers summoned to war and the knights who fought near them.
Not only was the famous battle between the Scots and the English romantic and bloody, says Nusbacker (war studies, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst), it was also historically significant. The author describes the politics and plans of a military campaign of the Middle Ages, including logistics, court intrigue, and the violent clash of common soldiers.
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Product Details
ISBN: 9780752429823
Publisher: Tempus
Publication Date: 15 February 2005
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Pages: 239 p.
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review 
An engaging description. Makes the events very real., 29 Nov 2006
By Stevie (Livingston, Scotland)
Very accessible writing. Covers all the pieces that make up the chess game of this battle. The English Army, the Scots "army", their two Kings, the battle ground...
What is an English knight really like - his weapons, his training, his motivations, his psyche? How can a Highland savage, with barely 2 farthings to rub together, compete against the fearsome technolgy that goes behind half a tonne of charging warhorse, knight and armour, all focused on the tip of a lance?
What kind of condition are ten thousand grunts going to be in, after marching into hostile territory, 30 miles a day, behind a several hundred horse and the churned mess they leave in their wake - only to spend the night on damp earth with bread, cheese and a cloak for comfort? How motivated are they to fight for their few pence per day, compared to the Scots, fighting for everything they own?
This is a very involving book that makes history very real.
Return to: Scottish History & Archaeology
Return to: Scottish History: Bannockburn