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The Reivers
- The Story of the Border Reivers
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
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The Reivers
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Summary
An "exciting and dramatic" history of the raiders who ruled the lawless Anglo-Scottish borderlands for over a century (Cumberland News).
Nowhere else in Britain in the modern era, or indeed in Europe, did civil order break down over such a wide area, or for such a long time, as on the border country between Scotland and England. For more than a century, the hoofbeats of countless raiding parties drummed over the border. From Dumfriesshire to the high wastes of East Cumbria, from Roxburghshire to Redesdale, from the lonely valley of Liddesdale to the fortress city of Carlisle, swords and spears spoke while the law remained silent. Fierce family loyalty counted for everything, while the rules of nationality counted for nothing. The whole range of the Cheviot Hills, its watershed ridges and the river valleys that flowed out of them, became the landscape of larceny while Maxwells, Grahams, Fenwicks, Carletons, Armstrongs, and Elliots rode hard and often for plunder.
These were the Riding Times and in modern European history, they have no parallel. This book tells the remarkable story of the Reivers and how they made the Borders.
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What listeners say about The Reivers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- D. Bowring
- 06-09-23
A fascinating portrait of violent times
I only heard about the Reivers on a recent trip to Northumberland and just had to learn more. This was the first audiobook I saw on the subject so downloaded it immediately.
The Reivers come across as early versions of the Peaky Blinders or The Mob in this swashbuckling story of raiding, cattle-rustling, extortion, blackmail and murder on the Scottish/English border. If you were a Reiver, your surname was more important than your nationality. You hated authority and political allegiances could change overnight if it proved to be to your advantage. Despite the 'outlaw' lifestyle, your activities were profoundly influenced by the machinations of kings and queens and the affairs of state.
The book is well-written and captures the brooding grandeur of the borders. I couldn't quite get along with the narration, but the story and subject-matter carried me forward and I certainly enjoyed learning about this exciting period in British history.
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