Border Fury: England and Scotland at War, 1296-1568 (review)

John Sadler, in this ambitious work, attempts to provide an accessible single-volume account of 300 years of Anglo-Scottish warfare. Written for a popular audience, the narrative is always lively and entertaining; the underlying research, however, is in some sections distinctly limited. The overall quality of the book is, therefore, rather patchy.

The text opens with an introductory account of the Anglo-Scottish border country, its geography and its peoples. This includes a brief history of the area up until 1286 and the death of Alexander III of Scotland. The next chapter provides a succinct overview of the art of war over the 300 years covered in the book, considering logistics, the mustering of armies, tactics, arms, and armour. The remaining chapters tell the story of conflict in the wild Marcher country from the beginning of the War of Independence in 1296, through to the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne in 1603. The text is not solely concerned with battles between the English and Scots; some episodes of the Wars of the Roses in the north are covered too. All the familiar tales are told with verve; no one with a love of border history will tire of hearing how Walter Scott ("the Bold Buccleuch") broke "Kinmont Willie" Armstrong out of Carlisle Castle in 1596. Yet Sadler is careful not to over-romanticize his subject and he opens one chapter with an arresting comparison between Anglo-Scots border warfare and recent conflicts in the Balkans.

Sadler seems most comfortable in the fifteenth-century. For those years, the text is well informed by both recent scholarship and some use of (printed) primary sources. Furthermore, the author's knowledge of the topography of the battlefields he describes allows him to challenge traditional accounts of some battles. Yet this standard is not maintained throughout the book. In particular, the sixteenth century receives a rather thin treatment. The "Rough Wooing" of 1542–50 is discussed without any reference to the works of Marcus Merriman or David Caldwell's definitive analysis of the 1547 battle at Pinkie. Instead, the author often relies on rather dated texts. His use of eye-witness accounts is worthy, but, almost invariably, these quotes are lifted from secondary works, even when printed versions of the original testimony are readily available. For example, the final chapter makes ample use of quotations from Sir Robert Carey's memoirs, and a 1747 edition of these is listed in the bibliography. Yet the chapter's endnotes reveal that the quotes used were actually culled from a slim volume in the Osprey Men-At-Arms series. Authors of popular military history can provide a useful service by taking the findings of recent scholarship to a wider audience, one that would not normally read academic monographs or journals. In this regard, perhaps, Sadler has let his readers down a little.

The author's familiarity with the border country is a positive feature; his frequent remarks on surviving monuments and the modern landscape would be much appreciated by visitors to the places mentioned in the text. Indeed, those seeking a conventional, introductory narrative to the period would enjoy this book. Yet, as a synthesis of a sometimes rather narrow range of secondary sources, the book offers nothing really new to the serious student.