The Fields of Bannockburn: A Novel of Christian Scotland from Its Origins to Independence

Customer Reviews:

Great history!.......2007-08-20

I found out more about Scotland's history in this book than I ever have in history classes. It was captivating and I was deeply engrossed in the history as I read. The only reason I don't give this a 5 star rating is because I could have done without the modern day portions of the book.

Addictive.......2006-08-29

This is the first book of it's size I've managed to read through in over 20 years. Having recently visited some of the places in the book, such as Iona, I was captivated by the book.
It's well written, easy reading, accurate in most of it's facts, absolutely inspiring.
My only negative comment is about a pro-catholic bias of some characters such as Columcile, who was portayed as catholic while he was not, and the glowing account of Queen Margaret who in fact did enormous harm to the Celtic church.
Still worth reading!

A Most Pleasant Introduction to Scottish History 101.......2003-08-17

Being of Scottish descent, I was thrilled to find a novel which provided the meat of historical fact in such a palatable format. Anyone who saw Braveheart and wants to know more about the endless struggle for Scottish independence from England will be rewarded with total understanding by reading this book. Don't be put off by its length... it is very easy reading. Crow makes the characters come alive, and you find yourself engrossed and involved in their lives as history unfolds before you. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has any interest in exploring their ancestry and the heritage of faithful Scots.

Totally engrossing!.......2000-01-18

I want to go to Scotland! The Fields of Bannockburn was totally engrossing. I was caught up in the book, by its history and its geography. I just had to know where all these places were! I'd read for a while, and then a placename would send me to the Scotland sections of Nicholson's Guide to Great Britain. The storyteller, Hamish, as the vehicle for the history of Scotland, was very believable as were the other characters. I had no trouble relating to Mary's quandry between her fiance back home in the States and Gareth in Scotland; it could have been me. Were I still teaching Language Arts in junior high school, I would and could recommend this book to that grade level. It would be a great adjunct to history, reading, and creative writing. What discussions one could have! What dreams of travel it could inspire: it would make one want to see the historic sites. My travel plans definitely will be guided by this book. Give it a try-you might want to go to Scotland, too.

Historical Fiction Above and Beyond.......2000-01-16

This book goes well beyond your average historical fiction. Donna Fletcher Crow splendidly links four pieces of Scotland's history with a modern day line. Be sure to follow up on the modern day characters when they go to Ireland in The Banks of the Boyne.

Bannockburn 1314: Robert Bruce's great victory (Campaign)

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An Excellent Campaign Summary

Bannockburn 1314: Robert Bruce's great victory (Campaign)
Peter Armstrong
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1855326094
Release Date: 2002-03-25

Book Description

Bannockburn was the climax of the career of King Robert the Bruce. In 1307 King Edward I of England, 'The Hammer of the Scots' and nemesis of William Wallace, died and his son, Edward II, was not from the same mould. Idle and apathetic, he allowed the Scots the chance to recover from the grievous punishment inflicted upon them. By 1314 Bruce had captured every major English-held castle bar Stirling and Edward II took an army north to subdue the Scots. Pete Armstrong's account of this pivotal campaign culminates at the decisive battle of Bannockburn that finally won Scotland her independence.

Customer Reviews:

An Excellent Campaign Summary.......2002-05-13

Pete Armstrong, a British artist and model-builder, has written an excellent campaign summary of Scotland's greatest military victory, the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Although some of the exact details of this famous battle remain open to debate, Armstrong does a fair job in presenting a balanced campaign narrative that incorporates different viewpoints. Bannockburn is also enhanced by excellent artwork and maps, which help to bring the battle into sharp focus. All in all, this is one of the better Osprey Campaign series titles.

In accordance with standard Osprey Campaign series format, Bannockburn 1314 begins with short sections on the origins of the campaign (8 pages), a campaign chronology, opposing commanders, opposing armies and opposing plans. The section on armies details the infantry and cavalry formations of both sides and the author stresses that while the English had superior cavalry, their failure to employ combined arms tactics utilizing both infantry and cavalry was a fundamental flaw in their numerically superior army. Certainly combined arms tactics are sound advice in any period, but while the author points out the English failure in this regard, he fails to point out how the Scottish were any different. If the English were overly reliant on their cavalry, the Scots were certainly overly reliant on spear-armed infantry. The Scots had no answer to the English superior quality and quantity in archers, and this had led to the defeat at Falkirk 16 years before. The section on plans notes that the English King Edward II was well provided with intelligence about the enemy as well as supplies, but had no real plan of campaign other than to relieve the siege of Stirling Castle. Edward's lack of combat experience and his assumption that the Scots would disperse in the face of a major English invasion are cited as primary causes of his negligent planning. Again, while the author's assessment of deficient English planning appears correct, it is hard to see that the Scottish King Robert the Bruce had any serious plan of campaign either. Until the second day of battle, the Scots kept their options open to fight or flee and their victory was the result of opportunity, rather than planning.

The campaign narrative itself is 38 pages long and is enhanced by five 2-D maps (Scotland in 1314, Edward II's invasion, the flight of the English army, Scottish raids in northern England, Bannockburn then and now) and three 3-D "Birds Eye View" maps (the fighting on 23 June 1314, the Scottish attack and the collapse of the English army). There are also three excellent battle scenes: the encounter between Robert the Bruce and Henry de Bohun, the attack of the Earl of Gloucester's cavalry on a Scottish schiltron and Edward II's flight). A somewhat longer than usual 20-page section on the battle's aftermath covers casualties, reasons for the English defeat, results of the battle, the continuation of the English-Scot war and changes in military tactics because of the battle. Indeed, the author should be applauded for finding space for some analysis of the battle. Essentially, the author blames most of the defeat upon Edward II's atrocious lack of leadership and faulty decisions, which was certainly a key ingredient in the disaster. Coupled to Edward's poor leadership, Robert the Bruce's ability to boldly seize opportunity presented by English indecision and confusion resulted in a successful Scottish counterattack on the second day. Rather than merely blaming one individual, I think it might be fairer to say that English arrogance was to blame for the defeat, since this same kind of arrogance figured in other battles where professional English armies opposed irregulars (e.g. the American Revolution, the Zulus, the Boers). Inexperienced as he was, Edward II probably would have entered battle more cautiously if opposing a professional continental foe like the French or Spanish. The author does conclude that the English eventually learned at great cost to deal with Scottish tactics and that they put this to good use against the French in the Hundred Years War.

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A fresh look at a Scottish heritage event

The Battle of Bannockburn 1314
Aryeh S. Nusbacher
Manufacturer: Tempus Pub Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0752423266

Customer Reviews:

A fresh look at a Scottish heritage event.......2001-08-18

The Battle of Bannockburn has had a major impact on the Scottish psyche, to the point where it forms the basis of the unofficial national anthem "Flower of Scotland". After all, a Scottish guerrilla army of 5,000 foot and a small force of cavalry defeated an English army of 15,000 foot and 2,500 cavalry.

Nusbacher's very readable account takes a fresh look at the events preceding and during the battle, and presents some re-interpretations of how events unfolded. The backgrounds of the main protagonists, Scotland's King Robert the Bruce and England's Edward II, along with that of their supporters, are clearly outlined. He describes the military equipment available to each side and explains the logistical issues faced by each of them. Getting a large mediaeval army from England to Scotland was quite an exercise!

The book is well illustrated, including a number of maps. However, relating the explanations to the maps was more difficult than it should have been and I feel that one good clear map of the battle area would have served better.

Book Description

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.

Bannockburn 1314 the Lion Rampant Video and Book Series

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Bannockburn 1314 the Lion Rampant Video and Book Series
Bannockburn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1898233101

Product Description

Video and Book Series. Campaigns In History. Bannockburn 1314 The Lion Rampant. 96 page book along with the definative video.

Bannockburn: A soldier's appreciation of the battle

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Bannockburn: A soldier's appreciation of the battle
Philip Christison
Manufacturer: National Trust for Scotland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0007KEVDA

A HISTORY OF THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN FOUGHT A.D. 1314 WITH NOTICES OF THE PRINCIPAL WARRIORS WHO ENGAGED IN THAT CONFLICT

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A HISTORY OF THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN FOUGHT A.D. 1314 WITH NOTICES OF THE PRINCIPAL WARRIORS WHO ENGAGED IN THAT CONFLICT
Robert White
Manufacturer: Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1871
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M1GCPO

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Bannockburn 1314

Manufacturer: OSPREY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GSQESS

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Interesting read, though not scholarly - emphasis on military history, the twentieth century, and the U.S.

I could not put this book down!

George Washington Has No Middle Name: Strange Historical Facts from the Days of the Greeks and Romans to the Present
Patricia Lee Holt
Manufacturer: Citadel Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0806510749

Customer Reviews:

Interesting read, though not scholarly - emphasis on military history, the twentieth century, and the U.S........2005-12-18

The subtitle of this book is "Strange Historical Facts from the Days of the Greeks and Romans up to the Present", but this is deceptive, if the reader expects an even distribution of time periods or locales to be covered. In fact, all but two of the six chapters (and two of the facts in the "This and That" chapter covering miscellaneous recent history), are concerned largely with U.S. history, mostly dating from the twentieth century.

The book's blurb suggests that it would be good for trivia games. However, since the book provides no citations for where the author got her information (and no bibliography), it is not suitable for use as a research tool on its own. The facts would have to be verified elsewhere. Furthermore, some of the anecdotes included that don't involve U.S. history are only roughly assigned to historical periods, so they might be challenging to verify independently, e.g. a story about an incident described as being "during the Crusades" rather than specifying which crusade. (Not that these are necessarily ambiguous if the reader is already familiar with the information, but starting from scratch, the details of some of these incidents could be difficult to look up.)

All that said, however - if the reader is only looking for some light entertainment, and isn't particularly concerned with being able to back up any of the book's stories, some of those stories are interesting, and they're written in a style meant more to entertain than for historical research.

The book is fairly short, containing only six chapters. "Greek and Roman Days" provides about a dozen bits of trivia, mostly about the Roman Empire but with a few anecdotes about Alexander the Great and Archimedes. The last two stories in this chapter properly belong to the next chapter, "Around the World", which in turn includes a few items that properly belong to the first chapter, and a few that should be in the final "This and That" chapter of modern trivia, but otherwise is mostly concerned with trivia from the tenth century to the nineteenth.

The three chapters "Early America", "World War I", and "World War II" take up about two thirds of the book. While the chapters about the world wars are largely concerned with the U.S. military, other interesting bits of trivia are included. Some are fairly general facts, such as "The British and French armies in WWI did not advance more than three miles at any point on the Western front in the whole year of 1915. The three miles cost the French Army alone more than 1.5 million men." Other bits of trivia are much more individual, such as "The model for Uncle Sam in the famous 'I want you' poster of WWI was the artist who designed the poster, James Montgomery Flagg."

A good read, though not suitable as an independent reference.

I could not put this book down!.......1997-12-06

This book really amazed me! Facts that I thought were truly facts were not! For instance, I wonder how many people know that there is no Congrecional Medal of honor, or how about all all the women that have fought in wars, but never mentioned in history books? A great read!!!

Amazon.com

"What is life?" asked physicist Edwin Schrödinger in an influential essay by that title published half a century ago. In this book, Franklin Harold ventures no definitive answers about what he calls "the supreme marvel of the universe." Instead, with wit and learning, he surveys the advances in scientific understanding about the nature of life since Schrödinger's time.

Harold focuses closely on microorganisms, which, he observes, do not often figure in popular books of biology, perhaps because most general readers associate them only with disease and not with their many beneficial contributions to the world's workings. In fact, he suggests, the answer to Schrödinger's question is likely to be found at the microscopic level. Current evolutionary models derived from the study of ribosomal RNA from hundreds of species of plants and animals now point to the development of life from some cenancestor in a setting billions of years old, one in which "microorganisms rather than dinosaurs fill the horizon." The identity of that ancestor is not yet known, he writes; it may have resembled a bacterium, or it may have been a loosely organized assemblage of protocells "engaged in the promiscuous exchange of genetic information."

No matter what it looked like, Harold notes in this instructive survey of modern biological theory, life probably originated in an apparently inhospitable environment, as studies of deep-ocean thermal vents and the lithosphere now point to, rather than in the oceanic "chemical stew" of old. It's a fascinating story, and Harold tells it ably. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

What is life? Fifty years after physicist Erwin Schrodinger posed this question in his celebrated and inspiring book, the answer remains elusive. In The Way of the Cell, one of the world's most respected microbiologists draws on his wide knowledge of contemporary science to provide fresh insight into this intriguing and all-important question. What is the relationship of living things to the inanimate realm of chemistry and physics? How do lifeless but special chemicals come together to form those intricate dynamic ensembles that we recognize as life? To shed light on these questions, Franklin Harold focuses here on microorganisms--in particular, the supremely well-researched bacterium E. coli--because the cell is the simplest level of organization that manifests all the features of the phenomenon of life. Harold shows that as simple as they appear when compared to ourselves, every cell displays a dynamic pattern in space and time, orders of magnitude richer than its elements. It integrates the writhings and couplings of billions of molecules into a coherent whole, draws matter and energy into itself, constructs and reproduces its own order, and persists in this manner for numberless generations while continuously adapting to a changing world. A cell constitutes a unitary whole, a unit of life, and in this volume one of the leading authorities on the cell gives us a vivid picture of what goes on within this minute precinct. The result is a richly detailed, meticulously crafted account of what modern science can tell us about life as well as one scientist's personal attempt to wring understanding from the tide of knowledge.

Customer Reviews:

Reality Thinking.......2007-10-02

Books like this are important! In this book, the author describes numerous examples of known ways that living processes operate and are controlled. In doing so, he refutes the common idea that God controls everything all the time like some grand micromanager and shows how natural processes in living systems are operating based on their own inherent properties - without the need for intervention by God all the time.
With such a realistic basis, we can then deal with the chaos and cruelty found all around us without having to twist theology around to deal with God not being the source of the suffering and cruelty in this world, past, present, and future.
The author obviously knows how living processes work and deals very well with making his text readable for many people.

Review by former scientist - Excellent book, very well done!.......2007-05-27

I was educated as a scientist with a focus in biochemistry. Later, I moved on to business and then psychology. I have a good background in comparative religion and philosophy as well, so this book was particularly interesting to me.

The first thing that I liked was Franklin Harolds ability to explain often difficult concepts in an understandable and interesting way. This is often an obstacle to lay readers and he makes this trek as painless as possible. Without understanding some fundamental concepts of biochemisty and living systems theory, it is difficult to look deeply at the main topic which is "what is life."

This book is an imaginative, but scientifically rigorous look at the nature of life. It is not, however, a simple reduction of life to physical and chemical processes. While it draws on these areas, it also invites the imagination to reach further and ponder deeper questions. Whether these will eventually be understood by science remains to be seen, but for not even at the frontiers of scientific knowledge there is much that is still a deep mystery.

This book focuses heavily on the life processes of bacteria as a means of understanding life. This is a simpler system than a eukaryotic (non-bacterial cell with a true nucleus) to consider and I think this is helpful because technically a bacteria is the smallest unit of life. (Viruses are not living things, but rather supermolecular complexes.)

The reader who invests the time to read this fine book will be rewarded by an expansion of his or her mind. It will ignite the imagination of even the most well-read people and yet is accessible to any intelligent laymen who has the patience to slow down and digest some of the foundational concepts.

I highly recommend this book. It is extremely thought provoking.

Numbing repetition.......2005-08-13

To understand even a "simple" bacteria, it is not enough to understand how biochemical pathways occur in a test tube, what proteins are coded for by each gene, and how these proteins can self assemble in vitro. Inheritance is comprised of not just DNA, but biochemical gradients, and cell structure. I learned some interesting and important things in the half of this book that I read. But at too much cost. Sure I had to look up a number of words, but with my "Dictionary of Modern Biology" by Norma Rudin, that was fun. What was not fun was the numbing repetition of the same thoughts, at length. Also, if you do not have a decent background in cellular biology, do not even think of reading this book: start with a book that Harold actually recommends, "Life Itself: Exploring the Realm of the Living Cell" by Boyce Rensberger.

Grandeur in the cell's view of life.......2005-03-31

Recently, an unhappy swarm of scientists or science writers has emerged. Their aim is stamping down the idea that genes are the root of life's processes. They rail against "reductionist science", while extolling life's "marvels" and "mysterious" attainments. It's a curious phenomenon, sometimes comprehensible in its aims, but always flawed in its foundation. The theme counters "the narrowly focussed and reductionist science", although those holding such views remain nameless. Franklin Harold is a member of this swarm, and this book is one attempt to lift the "meaning of life" to some perceived "higher plane". The result is a highly informative description of cellular structures and processes.

Harold's method is at least shorn of the polemics used by some of his colleagues. He wants us to understand that Schrodinger's great question, "What Is Life?" has an evident response. "Note the birds and the butterflies", if you truly want to know about life, Harold urges. To him, life is something to be celebrated, to have "meaning". His view, then, is limited to the individual organism, even if it's a micro-organism. Cells, he advises, offer a view of life providing a grandeur of its own. Micro-organisms, he stresses repeatedly, have been overlooked or poorly considered in recent years. With this book he seeks to restore them to their proper place in science's realm. In doing so, he attempts to detach Darwinian natural selection from the processes that form cellular structures. He comes dangerously close to proposing the steps in building a cell cannot be derived. They are too complex and generated by processes not linked to the replication process of DNA itself.

Harold's model cell is the famous [or infamous, depending on your digestive health] Eschericaria coli, resident of your gastro-intestinal tract. He even offers a detailed "recipe" of what comprises this bacterium with an illustration of its innards. In explaining some of the complex activities present in this bacterium, he offers a new concept to biology - the field. Admitting up front that such an ephemeral process will seem alien to biologists and physicists alike, he offers it as an explanation for the paths he fails to find leading back to the genome. While he struggles to give status to his idea, the reader can only wonder at Harold's evident desperation in offering it. That we don't yet know all the steps that a cell's DNA initiates to accomplish building an organism is hardly justification for such a flimsy thesis. Again, he is but one step from the supernatural, although avidly denying the charge.

In conclusion, Harold lopes back in time to examine some of the theses addressing life's origins. He rightly offers this as science's primary issue. Accepting that life "arose from inanimate matter", he synopsizes the evidence and considers the theories. Stanley Miller's "soup" is described, and Christian de Duve's "proto-metabolic web" is examined. He gives Cairns Smith's clay template for building replicating molecules a brief phrase, then considers Gunter Wachtershauser's foundation of iron pyrites at some length. He doesn't admire any of them, because they bring him too close to what he wishes to avoid - if we understand the simple beginnings, then we can assess how complexity arose. Since Harold can't accept any of them, we are left with our own preference, or none.

In building his case against a "biochemical view of life", Harold provides a wealth of exquisite detail about cells. Enhancing this catalog of cell parts and mechanisms are some fine diagrams, some derived from microphotographs. Each of the complex images provides valuable information even the specialist will find useful. Harold's "References" is an impressive list at first glance, but a close look reveals some unwarrented gaps. The book is worth a close reading [or more!], but must not be allowed to stand alone. Because it can't. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Eloquent tribute to the mystique of Biology........2003-10-25

The way of the cell is the way of life, for the cell is the structural unit of all living organisms on Earth. And Franklin Harold comes close to defining life in a manner that is all-encompassing, concise, and eloquent. Any person who has taken a Biology class should not have a problem with the book, although many times the author uses terminology that does not get defined at the same time, in which case, the reader has to have a good background in Cell Biology or has to browse the glossary.

Harold's eloquence is remarkable. Consider the following quotes:

1. "Over time functional systems would have "crystallized" into successful configurations, and therefore become less receptive to the import of novelty..."
2. "The genetic free-trade zone fragmented into protected enclaves, not abruptly but gradually on a time-scale of millions of years..."
3. "...leaving a huge lacuna in any account of cell evolution, but fostering a crop of stimulating conjectures."
4. "Molecular phylogenists, who draw their opinions from the bedrock of gene sequences, view the matter somewhat differently but still in a glass, darkly."
5. "The better part of valor may be to sit tight and await the tide of new data, but only dullards are proof against the temptations of myth-making."
6. "There is a fine air of whimsy, about those imaginative tales ...They also stop insouciantly around patches of quicksand, such as what brought about early cellular fusions that are not permitted to contemporary prokaryotes..."
7. "The profusion that came after is built like a fugue upon the deep theme of eukaryotic order."
8. "On the outer banks of science, one often suspects that the believer is happy while the doubter is wise; and yet, too critical a spirit is apt to overlook the genuine contribution that complexity studies have already made."
9. "The rocky path from RNA replicators to DNA genes and from catalytic RNA to protein enzymes calls for stout boots and a good head for heights."

This makes for engrossing reading, as the mystique of Biology can be overlooked when the text is dry and scholarly. There is delight, however, in reading Harold, similar to what the reader can get from Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Stuart Kauffman, to name a few. I can imagine Harold entertaining his audience in a seminar with his penchant for combining words elegantly.

Today I was in a seminar where a famous molecular biologist (also a cancer biologist) admitted to a sabotage against the reductionist agenda as more scientists begin to realize that life processes cannot be just explained by the panoply of bioorganic molecules, proteins especially, and the genes that encode them. Harold fiercely stresses that DNA, for all the glorification that it deserves, is not all there is. New properties emerge as biological molecules find themselves in different cellular compartments and environments, at different stages in the development of the organism, and as the organisms themselves explore all possibilities of trading and swapping genes, and even fusing their entire bodies in one. Read this book, and be enveloped by the biological mystique!

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The Way of the Cell: Molecules, Organisms, and the Order of Life
Franklin M. Harold
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKT0E8

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The Way of the Cell: Molecules, Organisms, and the Order of Life
Franklin M. Harold
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKL8HA

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