A Military History of Scotland

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The Scottish soldier has been at war for over 2000 years. Until now, no reference work has attempted to examine this vast heritage of warfare.A Military History of Scotland offers readers an unparalleled insight into the evolution of the Scottish military tradition. This wide-ranging and extensively illustrated volume traces the military history of Scotland from pre-history to the recent conflict in Afghanistan. Edited by three leading military historians, and featuring contributions from thirty scholars, it explores the role of warfare in the emergence of a Scottish kingdom, the forging of a Scottish-British military identity, and the participation of Scots in Britain's imperial and world wars. Eschewing a narrow definition of military history, it investigates the cultural and physical dimensions of Scotland's military past such as Scottish military dress and music, the role of the Scottish soldier in art and literature, Scotland's fortifications and battlefield archaeology, and Scotland's military memorials and museum collections.

Reviews

Here truly is a magnificent book which does comprehensive justice to the Scottish military tradition over two millennia. No volume hitherto can equal its remarkable range, scholarly authority or deep insights. A veritable intellectual feast , it will stand for many years to come as the study on a subject which is absolutely central to the history of the Scottish nation. -- Senior Research Professor in History, University of Edinburgh Here truly is a magnificent book which does comprehensive justice to the Scottish military tradition over two millennia. No volume hitherto can equal its remarkable range, scholarly authority or deep insights. A veritable intellectual feast , it will stand for many years to come as the study on a subject which is absolutely central to the history of the Scottish nation.

Author Bio

Educated at the old Royal High School and Edinburgh University, Edward Spiers has spent most of his academic career at the University of Leeds, where he has written fourteen books, served as Chairman of the School of History, Dean and Pro-Dean of Research in the Faculty of Arts and Acting pro-Vice Chancellor for Research. He now serves on the Peer Review College and Panels of the Arts and Humanities Research Council. He is author of many books on Military histroy and warfare, including Haldane: An Army Reformer ( 1980), The Army and Society, 1815-1914 (1980), Radical General: Sir George de Lac. Evans, 1787-1870 (1983), Chemical Warfare (1985), Chemical Weaponry: A Continuing Challenge (1989), The Late Victorian Army, 1868-1902 (1992), Chemical and Biological Weapons: A Study of Proliferation (1994), Wars of Intervention: A Case Study - The Reconquest of the Sudan 1896-99 (1998), Weapons of Mass Destruction: Prospects for Proliferation (2000), and The Victorian Soldier (2004). Jeremy Crang was educated at the universities of Stirling, Oxford and Edinburgh. He has been a lecturer in History at Edinburgh since 1993 and was appointed senior lecturer in 2003. He is Assistant Director of the Centre for the Study of the Two World Wars. In 2009-2010 he will be on research leave and a visiting By-Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge. His research interests lie in the field of modern British History, with a particular interest in the Second World War, the armed forces, and the relationship between the armed forces and society. He is currently completing a monograph on the British women's auxiliary services and the Second World War, and is co-editing (with Edward Spiers and Matthew Strickland) a military history of Scotland. He has been a book review editor for History (1995-2000) and is co-editor of the Edinburgh University Press series 'Societies at War 1939-1945'. Professor of Medieval History at Glasgow University. Research interests chivalric society and the conduct of war in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries castles, fortifications and medieval warfare political culture, kingship and rebellion in the Anglo-Norman and Angevin realms One of my principal areas of research is chivalric culture and conduct in warfare, particularly in Britain and North France from the eleventh to the later thirteenth century. I have been particularly interested in the development of concepts of ransom, clemency and customs regulating behaviour in war. My most recent book, The Great Warbow: From Hastings to the Mary Rose (2005) co-authored with Robert Hardy, examined the nature of the longbow as a weapon and the growing significance of military archery before, during and after the Hundred Years War. I am currently engaged in a study of the nature of aristocratic rebellion in England and Normandy from the Norman Conquest to the later thirteenth century, examining its justification, the methods by which it was prosecuted, and its suppression and punishment. I am also working on a biographical study of Henry 'the Young King' (1155-1183), eldest surviving son of Henry II, who was crowned king in the lifetime of his father, and whose short but turbulent career affords an important case study of kingship, rebellion and warfare in the later twelfth century. He is a member of the Scottish Centre for War Studies. In collaboration with Dr Jeremy Crang (University of Edinburgh) and Professor Edward Spiers (University of Leeds)., I am co-editing A Military History of Scotland (Edinburgh University Press), a multi-authored volume whose chapters will range from pre-Roman Scotland to the Gulf Wars.