The Scots originally came from Ireland and settled in a remote part of what is now 'Scotland'. They found a land divided by geography: mountainous, a land of river valleys and separate coastal plains, and settled by 'Picts', Britons and Angles. Within a couple of centuries, it was to be invaded by the Norse. There was no such place as Scotland, only a collection of warring peoples. How, from this unpromising beginning, did there emerge a nation of Scots?

It was partly the work of the kings of Scots from Malcolm Canmore to Alexander III who brought the country together under their rule; but also of the Scottish Church in a long struggle against the archbishops of York who claimed that Scotland was part of their province.

Alexander III's tragic death in 1286 left the kingdom leaderless, and soon to be faced with Edward I's claims to overlordship. In this crisis, the Scots were often divided and uncertain, but in the end maintained their independence and the identity of Scotland, at the cost of a long and destructive struggle. As a result, the sense of a Scottish identity became merged with a hostility towards England, which lasted even beyond the Union of 1707.

To this day, Scotland's identity remains an issue in the politics of Britain, and perhaps even of Europe. It is in the events described in this book that the roots of this identity are to be found.