The Scottish Chiefs

only got to read a few pages...cant wait to get back to it.....great shape....great illustrations.!!

"The Scottish Chiefs" is a classic adventure tale, told in the style of Sir Walter Scott's "Rob Roy." The National Hero of Scotland, William Wallace, gets his story told with a heavy emphasis on romance and drama.Those seeking a book version of "Braveheart" may be disappointed, as the story is quite different. The William Wallace of "The Scottish Chiefs," like the historical William Wallace, is a castle dwelling nobleman who surrenders his fortunes to fight for Scotland. The writing style is thick, and should be familiar to readers of this genre. "The Scottish Chiefs" is a huge, heavy book with a plot that unfolds at a patient pace. This edition of "The Scottish Chiefs" contains illustrations by N.C. Wyeth, and acclaimed illustrator of Children's books and the father of artist Andrew Wyeth. The paintings are all direct scenes from the book, and capture the spirit of the adventure in fine detail.

If you liked watching Braveheart you will love this book. It has it all, a hero with a just cause who won't be bribed. Evil henchmen, beautiful women, strong handsome men, kings, knights, archers, war without the gore, spies, traitors and loyal aides. It's long but a page burner. As a paperback it would be a good summer beach read. As a hardbound, its a wonderful rainy weekend read. (I also really like the illustrations, they add a lot to the character of the book.) I found this book later in life and wondered how I missed it when I was growing up. I've given several copies as gifts and all who got it liked it.Best of all 500 years later it all works out and Scotland has its own parliment.

This book remains one of my all time favorites right up there with Les Miseables and the Forsythe Saga; my 1883 edition published by John Wurtele Lovell in New York has 652 pages of very small print but it will be well worth a third reading. The historical detail in the footnotes is as interesting as the main story; e.g., referring to a shattered tower of the castle of Lammington a footnote reads, "The ruins of this tower are still visible; and near to them the people of this country point out the place where Wallace encamped his brave army". I had difficulty relating the movie, "Braveheart", with Jane Porter's account of Wallace and Bruce, and favor Porter's version of the relationship between Wallace and Bruce. During the second reading I was more aware of all the embracing and weeping by the cast of characters as portrayed by Porter; it seemed a little unreal and overdone, but she calls her novel a "romance" so she is forgiven. I have shared this book with many of my friends and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone from 9 yrs of age to 90.

My copy of this book was published in 1858, I found it in a little second hand book store in Stirling, Scotland, not far from the castle. I found the book to be well written and very interesting, especially if you had spent time at "Bannock Burn", or had seen, and visited the Wallace Monument. If you get the chance to visit the area where this great story took place you can see the "Scots" as they took control of the field of battle and destroyed Edward army. It's too bad that the movie didn't tell the whole story. I THINK this book is one which should be read by all Americians (as well as FREE PEOPLE anywhere) as it tells the story of our founding fathers and the freedom they sought for all of us.