Bannockburns: Scottish Independence and the Literary Imagination, 1314-2014

Shows how the idea of Scottish independence has been imagined by writers over 700 years Engagingly written by a poet and scholar, Bannockburns begins with an English poet-in-residence at the 1314 battle. The book then traces how that famous victory has been interpreted and reinterpreted imaginatively. It moves from vivid medieval epics in several languages through the Romantic political imagination of Robert Burns to the striking part played by twenty-first-century poets, novelists and dramatists in creative attempts to answer the 2014 question: 'Should Scotland be an independent country?' Here are the nationalist poetry of Hugh MacDiarmid and the gore of Braveheart and Black Watch; the Surrey novelist who celebrates Scotland's political freedom in her international best-seller, and the bisexual Jewish American who develops a nuanced theory of Scottish nationalism in opposition to the oppressive rhetoric of fascism. Bannockburns concludes with a spirited discussion of literature and Scotland's 2014 referendum. From The Bruce to contemporary literature and modern-day campaigning, Bannockburns is revelatory. Robert Crawford's seven collections of poetry include A Scottish Assembly (1990) and Full Volume (2008). His biography of Robert Burns, The Bard (2009), won the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award. His other books include Scotland's Books (2007) and On Glasgow and Edinburgh (2013). Professor of Modern Scottish Literature and Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Poetry at the University of St Andrews, he is writing a biography of T. S. Eliot. Front cover images: Robert the Bruce and Wallace Monument, Stirling (c) fotoVoyager/iStockphoto.com and Robert Burns, 1828, Alexander Nasmyth, 1787 (c) Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Back cover: Rotunda in Snow (c) Tom Ingrey-Counter, courtesy of National Trust for Scotland. Cover design: [EUP logo] www.euppublishing.com