William Wallace was a genocidal coward, says historian
Fans of the film Braveheart should look away now. A newly published book on Scottish history declares that William Wallace, immortalised by Mel Gibson, was nothing more than a genocidal maniac.
Instead of lauding Wallace, the author of the new work says, the Scots should disown him and transform his monument at Stirling into a national museum to educate the public about the dangers of ethnic cleansing.
Edwin Moore, who was a senior editor for the Collins reference division for 20 years, takes a strictly revisionist view of the Scots warrior, who was executed in 1305, labelling him a murderous coward who butchered thousands of innocent and defenceless people.
In his book Scotland: 1,000 Things You Need To Know, Moore sets out to explode the myths about one of the icons of the country's history.
The writer, who takes the debate to the Wigtown Book Festival next week, said: “Wallace ravaged the whole of the North of England - there were some areas that were absolutely devastated. What he did was genocide, what these days we'd call ethnic cleansing.
“Edward I started it, but he took strong towns like Berwick. When Wallace was devastating England he avoided the big, fortified towns. He was wiping out helpless villages. People talk about the courage of the man, but he was slaughtering women and children. His armies showed no mercy. These were professional killers."...
Read entire article at Times (UK)
Instead of lauding Wallace, the author of the new work says, the Scots should disown him and transform his monument at Stirling into a national museum to educate the public about the dangers of ethnic cleansing.
Edwin Moore, who was a senior editor for the Collins reference division for 20 years, takes a strictly revisionist view of the Scots warrior, who was executed in 1305, labelling him a murderous coward who butchered thousands of innocent and defenceless people.
In his book Scotland: 1,000 Things You Need To Know, Moore sets out to explode the myths about one of the icons of the country's history.
The writer, who takes the debate to the Wigtown Book Festival next week, said: “Wallace ravaged the whole of the North of England - there were some areas that were absolutely devastated. What he did was genocide, what these days we'd call ethnic cleansing.
“Edward I started it, but he took strong towns like Berwick. When Wallace was devastating England he avoided the big, fortified towns. He was wiping out helpless villages. People talk about the courage of the man, but he was slaughtering women and children. His armies showed no mercy. These were professional killers."...