The Reivers by Alistair Moffat

The Reivers by Alistair Moffat

Only one period in history is immediately, indelibly and uniquely linked to the whole area of the Scottish and English Border country, and that is the time of the Reivers. Whenever anyone mentions 'Reiver', no-one hesitates to add 'Border'. It is an inextricable association, and rightly so. Nowhere else in Britain in the modern era, or indeed in Europe, did civil order break down over such a wide area, or for such a long time. For more than a century the hoof-beats of countless raiding parties drummed over the border. From Dumfriesshire to the high wastes of East Cumbria, from Roxburghshire to Redesdale, from the lonely valley of Liddesdale to the fortress city of Carlisle, swords and spears spoke while the law remained silent. Fierce family loyalty counted for everything while the rules of nationality counted for nothing.The whole range of the Cheviot Hills, its watershed ridges and the river valleys which flowed out of them became the landscape of larceny while Maxwells, Grahams, Fenwicks, Carletons, Armstrongs and Elliots rode hard and often for plunder. These were the Riding Times and in modern European history, they have no parallel. This book tells the remarkable story of the Reivers and how they made the Borders.

'Think Peaky Blinders but with swords and a taste for cattle rustling'

* The Herald *

'This is a page-turning history, lucidly written, and it is enhanced by a selection of five famous Border balladsOne of the best reads of the year, without doubt'

-- Hamish Coghill * Scottish Life *

'This is a history as exciting and dramatic as the Border ballads themselves'

* Cumberland News *

'It is the passion and pride in the land of his birth that shine through in this superb new work'

* Southern Reporter *

Alistair Moffat was born and bred in the Scottish Borders. A former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Director of Programmes at Scottish Television and founder of the Borders Book Festival, he is also the author of a number of highly acclaimed books. From 2011 he was Rector of the University of St Andrews. He has written more than thirty books on Scottish history, and lives in the Scottish Borders.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781780274454
ISBN 10	1780274459
Title	The Reivers
Author	Alistair Moffat
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Birlinn General
Year published	2017-03-06
Number of pages	336
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.