Reviews for The History of Scotland from the Accession of Alexander III. to the Union

The average rating for The History of Scotland from the Accession of Alexander III. to the Union based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-02-03 00:00:00 Sylvain Chartrand Fascinating for many reasons. The stories it told are, mostly, not that well-known. However, the primary reason I would recommend this book to history lovers is that as a secondary text in itself, it is an eloquent study in how personal bias and cultural imbalance can infuse what is supposed to be a historical storybook aimed at 8-12 year old children. Written in 1888, this is to be expected, and indeed I found the comparison between Native American tribes and Communism to be fascinating and worthy of following up by modern historians. However, the sexism and racism of the time bleeds through every story, colouring the tales. Frequently, homilies and snippets of advice intended for the child reader show how boys and girls are expected to be by both the writer and the society from which he writes. Fascinating as a sociological text, a historical perspective and indeed, for the tales themselves which are well-written and informative. I do believe this book should be read with an understanding of context in which it was produced, though.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-07-04 00:00:00 Lowa Knot An interesting read, several of these girls I hadn't heard about. It's naturally coloured by the time in which it's written, Brooks adds a bit of moral at the end of each story, but I think a modern writer would as well, though in a different way, focusing on different things. I see that some thinks the writing is a bit difficult, but I didn't find it so. It is after all written for children. The dialogue is sometimes a bit more old-fashioned, as a rhetorical strategy as it happens in years long ago. However, if you have read some classics, it really shouldn't be a problem at all. (Again, it's written for children.) The saddest part of the book, was the descriptions of Palmyra, which ruins is now largely blown to bits in the civil war in Syria. As an historian, that hurt.