zealforneil's review against another edition
Could never quite get momentum up with this, but can definitely see the appeal
chris_tyson's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Robb comes across quite patronising at points. In the sections which feature his personal reflections it reads as if he’s a member of the citizenry who’s settled in the lands of the barbarians. Instead of caricatures of rural Northerners he could maybe have spoken to them, or given us more of them and less of him.
The history sections are interesting, although he discussed the border reivers before the Romans and Arthur, it did fill a bit “arse about face”. But it does shed light on the borderlands between Scotland and England.
The history sections are interesting, although he discussed the border reivers before the Romans and Arthur, it did fill a bit “arse about face”. But it does shed light on the borderlands between Scotland and England.
annagrac's review against another edition
3.0
The premise of this book and early chapters sounded great, a literary work about a lawless corner of the UK. Weirdly the finished product was not quite as advertised. About 200 pages in, we seem to veer away from the history of the Debatable Land and instead are reconstructing Battles of Arthurian legend with help from Roman maps. It then takes an even less welcome detour into the politics of Scottish Independence (which at least is geographically relevant) and thence onto Brexit (seriously, why does the author need to give an opinion?).
bobbytrucktricks's review against another edition
2.0
Stopped listening at 30%. I was hoping for a history of the Scottish/English border, but this is weighed down by what I found to be a very uninteresting personal narrative about the author moving to the area from Oxford and experiencing rural life. I just do not care about his new twee country life without a car, or his bike trips. The treatment of the locals is sort of patronizing and the attempts to connect modern life in the region to its medieval history seemed like a pretty serious reach. At the point where I stopped listening the author had provided plenty of cute vignettes and observations about the locals, but he never let them speak for themselves. If he had, they probably wouldn't have said what he wanted them to say. Also, because the book does try to touch on current affairs, the author's politics came through occasionally. I found them to be typical smug professional class views that don't engage very deeply with the effects of politics on the lives of regular people in the area. That aspect would also have been greatly improved if the author had chosen to write a straight-forward history of the area without making himself a character in it. Leaving his personal anecdotal observations out of it probably would have allowed him to draw more interesting conclusions about the place in the present day.
yahyahyah's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Robb writes excellent pop-history. The book is engaging and tells a little known history of a dozen square miles in Scotland where English history was acted out in both isolation and in miniature. His original work/discovery shines in Part Four and do wish there was more emphasis on his actual resources, work, and sources than his speculations and attempts to make history "fun". Overall a good read with excellent anecdotes. As with all good history, adds to the texture and depth of the world we see everyday.
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