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The long conflict between border families, and with the uncertain law enforcement of the border districts, has many layers. In the sixteenth century, the border between Scotland and England was the much fought-over scene of frequent warfare between the two kingdoms. In "The Steel Bonnets", accomplished journalist, novelist, and historian George MacDonald Fraser takes on the challenging task of making sense of the Anglo-Scottish border reivers, as these raiders were called. In a land without law, armed force was a necessity for survival. Fraser notes the similarities of the Anglo-Scottish border in its lawless heyday with the present-day frontiers of Pakistan and Afghanistan; those responsible for pacifying that bloody border may find here some useful lessons. Proof of his success may lie in the fact that "The Steel Bonnets" has never been out of print since first publication in 1971.In his characteristic animated prose, Fraser lays out the background of the border area, identifies its people, and describes their distinctive lifestyle.
He makes liberal use of colorful anecdotes to move the narrative along and to characterize a complicated history. The families on both sides fell into an armed, semi-nomadic existence whose economic mainspring was raiding the other side for cattle, property, and slaves. Fraser does his best to make sense of it all. His narrative is commendably even-handed. If violence, robbery, and chicanery was a way of life for the reivers, he provides the necessary context. With the union of the English and Scottish crowns in 1603, the shelter of the border went away; the reivers were scourged out of existence in just ten years by a ruthless application of hanging justice.
"The Steel Bonnets" is very recommended as a superb example of well-written history.
Book a came before my brother arrived. When I gave it to him, he scanned through it and thought it was a great book for his collection.
The border reiver families' conflicts and alliances are dealt with in detail, as are the English and Scottish attempts to bring the border marches under control. I have read one other book on this topic, plus lots of online historical documentation. Fraser, born in the border town of Carlisle, England,has compiled the most extensive history I have found. It is gang warfare, politics, nationalism, religion, and economics in one treatise. If you want to buy only one book, this is it.
I bought this used - but you'd never know it. It arrived timely and in perfect condition. Wonderful history - well written.
It describes local customs, the techniques of raiding, as well as some of the most important clans. When Scott says they abhorred and avoided the crime of unnecessary homicide, one can only comment that they seem to have found homicide necessary with appalling frequency.-The Steel Bonnets by George Macdonald FraserThis delightfully cynical line is one of my favorites of the book. It is the old Anglo-scottish border. And the tales of their life still remain.The Steel Bonnets gives a picture of life on the border. It also gives a history of border politics and ends finnally with the brutal pacification of the region by King James, who as the author wryly acknowledges, was acting in a manner not dissimilar to his victims.The most attractive figure in the book was the Elizabethan lawman Robert Carey, who deserves to be better known, for he handled the difficult job of policing the border honestly, valiantly, and not without mercy. Long a frontier of war, people could not count on normal guarentees of their survival.
But it does give a fascinating portrait of their life. It shows Fraser's sardonic personality as well as giving a healthy contempt for the romanticism of brigandage.In The Steel Bonnets, the author describes a world in which law was half broken, the sword was the ruler, and woe betide the weak. It is pleasingly unsentimental and does not regard border chieftains as heros simply because they were successful raiders. With civilization stolen from them, they became barbarians. And remained so for centuries. And it does not hide that, if border raiders were vicious, the English and Scottish governments, were not pillers of virtue either.
The Steel Bonnets is a book that is very much worth reading.
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