Warrior Dreams: Playing Scotsmen in Mainland Europe

(Hardback)

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Why does a Parisian banker re-enact the medieval wars of Wallace and Bruce in his spare time Why do more than 20,000 people attend the Schotse Weekend bagpipe competition in Bilzen, Flanders Why does an entire village in the Italian Alps celebrate a lost Scottish regiment And why is there a Highland Games circuit of at least 30 kilted strength c

Reviews

Its hard to know whether to laugh or cry at one of the most bizarre stories of modern culture, beautifully told by David Hesse. Is this who Scots have become, or are we simply figuring in someone elses fantasy life Hesse tells it with sympathy and irony, and he is always true to what he finds. Perhaps we are all Scots now.'
Emeritus Professor David McCrone, University of Edinburgh

'It is a volume full of surprises, intriguing facts and sharp insights which will have obvious appeal for scholars of identity, history, anthropology and folk culture. But Warrior dreams also merits a much broader readership because of its accessible prose and stimulating exploration of the enduring global appeal of romantic Scottishness'.
Professor Sir Tom Devine, University of Edinburgh

...is an extraordinary book which examines the remarkable cult of Scottishness which has mushroomed across northern Euroe from Moscow to Stockholm in recent decades. Hesse skillfully explains why Highland games, pipe bands, military re-enactments and Scots festivals have become so popular on the continent among Europeans who have no Scottish herritage whatever and often have never visited the country of their dreams. A book which deserves a wide readership...

These primary source materials, among others, are analysed within an impressive grasp of a wider scholarship on memory and heritage and deft comparisons with the genetic Scottish diaspora of North America and Australasia.
Interdisciplinary Journalof Scottish Studies, Vol. 39, 2017

Author Bio

David Hesse holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh and now works as a political correspondent for a Swiss daily newspaper in Washington D.C.