Robert the Bruce: Price of the King's Peace [Audiobook] [Hardcover]

Nigel Tranter was a seanchaidh, and he is sadly missed. Yes, he was a highly successful writer, but he was so much more, and in the tradition of old, he wove many tales of Ancient Scotland as few historians could.

And THE BRUCE TRILOGY is Tranter at his best (a wee bit redundant since Tranter was always at his best). Tranter created the three books of the Trilogy to bring forth the tale of Robert Earl of Carrick who went on to become Robert the King, but he does not just tells the story, he brings Bruce alive for you to meet, to understand. He was a young man caught at the centre of Scotland's struggles. It was a separate country from England, having its own kings since the dawn of time, but Edward Plantagenet - called Edward Longshanks because of his great height and long legs - was determined to unite all of Britain. Two men stood in his way: William Wallace and Robert Bruce. Wallace (see Tranter's THE WALLACE) was a shooting star that lit the conscious mind, giving cry to a national identity Scotland often lacked, since Clan ties and oaths were generally put before homage to the King. Wallace created the spark, in common man and noble alike, that Scotland was a country and would never bow down to the English King. By very nature of whom he was, a commoner, Wallace drew Edward's wrath as no noble ever would, so Wallace's pivotal roll in Scotland's struggle to remain free was cut short. It then fell to Bruce save Scotland, a man in his twenties, who not only had to fight his family's role for him, Edward's attempt to bend him and control him while at English court, but ultimately saw him fighting 2/3 of his own Country due the mighty Clan Comyn's determination to put one of their own on the throne. You feel for Bruce, his loss of his family, the imprisonment of his wife, sister and daughter, jealousy of his brother, and maybe will understand him more as man after reading this. So much power and force behind the man and the story as only Tranter could deliver.

This is a complex history, since Bruce often was seen as serving himself more than Scotland, witnessing him making homage to Edward on four separate occasions. But you learn why Bruce bought his time, played both ends against the middle, and succeeded where Wallace failed. Tranter does not just tell you these events happened, he make you see Bruce the man, not the man who would be king. Tranter opens a door into Scotland's past, and permits you to walk with him, walk with Bruce, not as a historical figure, not a King, but as a man, faults, fears and all.

This is a magick that transcends being a writer, even a very good writer. This is a tale told with wonder, passion and awe by fireside by a seanchaidh.

If you have never read Tranter, I cannot image a better introduction to Scotland's Seanchaidh. Once you read him, you will hungrily devour the rest of his works.

WISE WRITERS AND READERS Recommended Read

Book 1 - Opens with Bruce in his 20's, a spoiled young nobleman, forced like all the other Scottish nobles to pay homage to Edward of England and be his lackey. Later his meeting with Elizabeth de Burgh, and finally the birth of his ambition.
Book 2 - Hitting rock bottom with the capture and executions of his brothers, the imprisonment of his wife, and his other female relatives kept in cages, he is finally driven into the wilderness to live as a hermit. Eventually, he rises again and is able to unite the many clans and tribes from the northern Highlands with the Norman/Celt mixed nobles from the south to fight together for the common cause of Scotland. Part 2 finishes with the Battle of Bannockburn.
Book 3 - Finally the undisputed King in Scotland though there is still the ongoing struggle to have England recognize Bruce as King of Scotland.

A novel I will enjoy reading again, especially loved the parts about Christina MacRuarie, ruling woman of the isles, also the Highland chiefs and sea captains. So much historical detail with never a dull moment.