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For Freedom: The Last Days of William Wallace
David R Ross, 'The Biker Historian', goes on the trail of William Wallace once again to investigate his last days, the events that led up to his death, and their repercussions through Scottish history. He ties Wallace's life and death to issues of patriotism and Scottish nationality over the last seven hundred years, and identifies Wallace as a 'Scottish Martyr' who died for freedom and identity in the country he loved.
168 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2007
39 people want to read
About the author
David R. Ross
20 books8 followersDavid Robertson Ross was a patriotic Scot who loved his country and its people. He was passionate about the rich tapestry of Scottish history. David was a writer and historian who specialised in the great Scottish hero, Sir William Wallace. Although Wallace and the Wallace Society took up a great deal of David's time, he still managed to write about Scotland and her historical past with poignancy and a touch of humour.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 28, 2025
#Binge Reviewing my previous Reads #William Wallace
David R. Ross’s For Freedom: The Last Days of William Wallace is not a biography in the academic sense, nor even a history book in the conventional way—it is a pilgrimage, a threnody, and an outpouring of rage and grief. Ross walks the very path of Wallace’s final journey in 1305, from capture to trial to execution, and forces the reader to witness every step.
You don’t sit back passively while reading this book—you are dragged, bound, and bloodied, alongside Wallace himself, down the long road to Smithfield, where he was made into a spectacle of death.
Ross gives us not the Braveheart caricature but the man in chains. He lingers on the betrayal, on the shadowy figures who handed Wallace over to the English, and on the kangaroo trial presided over by Edward I, a man obsessed with crushing not just Scotland’s resistance but the very idea that a people could live free. There is no defense permitted, no mercy considered.
Wallace is accused not as a soldier of war but as a traitor—though he had never sworn allegiance to Edward, never bowed, and never betrayed. The charge is a lie dressed in the garb of legality, and the sentence is predetermined: death, in the most savage form England could devise.
And here is where Ross’s narrative grows unbearable. He describes, with unsparing clarity, how Wallace was dragged naked through the streets of London, tied to the tails of horses, and jeered at by the crowds. He shows us how the execution was designed not just to kill a man but to erase his dignity, to make an example so monstrous it would echo through generations.
Hanged, but cut down before death could claim him. Then the butcher’s work: disemboweled alive, his heart and entrails torn out in front of him, set aflame while he still breathed. The mutilation complete, his body quartered, the limbs sent to the far corners of England’s dominion, nailed up like grisly trophies to terrorize the living.
His head, dipped in tar, set upon a spike on London Bridge—a warning, a proclamation that resistance ends here.
Ross writes with fury, but also with love. He makes you feel not only Wallace’s agony but the loss endured by Scotland itself. This wasn’t just the murder of a man; it was an attempt to murder a dream, the dream of a people who refused to be ruled by an alien crown. And yet, even as he recounts the horror, Ross suggests that Edward’s cruelty backfired.
Far from extinguishing Wallace’s flame, the brutality of his death enshrined him as a martyr, as a symbol, as an eternal thorn in the English conscience.
Reading this book, it is impossible not to hate the English of that age—the arrogance of their kings, the cold hypocrisy of their courts, the sadism of their punishments. Ross makes sure you feel every lash of humiliation Wallace endured. It is history sharpened into a blade, a story told so viscerally that you end up seething at the injustice.
And it is not just about 1305—it is about power and oppression across all ages, about how empires try to grind down the spirit of the defiant.
For Freedom is devastating because it refuses to look away.
Many histories glide over Wallace’s end, mentioning only “executed” or “put to death”. Ross forces you to stand in that blood-soaked square and watch.
He gives Wallace back his last hours, restores to him the truth of what was done, and in doing so, ensures that no reader can ever walk away unmoved.
This book shook me.
It makes you mourn, it makes you rage, and above all, it makes you honour Wallace—not just as a warrior but as a man who, even in death, would not bend the knee.
David R. Ross’s For Freedom: The Last Days of William Wallace is not a biography in the academic sense, nor even a history book in the conventional way—it is a pilgrimage, a threnody, and an outpouring of rage and grief. Ross walks the very path of Wallace’s final journey in 1305, from capture to trial to execution, and forces the reader to witness every step.
You don’t sit back passively while reading this book—you are dragged, bound, and bloodied, alongside Wallace himself, down the long road to Smithfield, where he was made into a spectacle of death.
Ross gives us not the Braveheart caricature but the man in chains. He lingers on the betrayal, on the shadowy figures who handed Wallace over to the English, and on the kangaroo trial presided over by Edward I, a man obsessed with crushing not just Scotland’s resistance but the very idea that a people could live free. There is no defense permitted, no mercy considered.
Wallace is accused not as a soldier of war but as a traitor—though he had never sworn allegiance to Edward, never bowed, and never betrayed. The charge is a lie dressed in the garb of legality, and the sentence is predetermined: death, in the most savage form England could devise.
And here is where Ross’s narrative grows unbearable. He describes, with unsparing clarity, how Wallace was dragged naked through the streets of London, tied to the tails of horses, and jeered at by the crowds. He shows us how the execution was designed not just to kill a man but to erase his dignity, to make an example so monstrous it would echo through generations.
Hanged, but cut down before death could claim him. Then the butcher’s work: disemboweled alive, his heart and entrails torn out in front of him, set aflame while he still breathed. The mutilation complete, his body quartered, the limbs sent to the far corners of England’s dominion, nailed up like grisly trophies to terrorize the living.
His head, dipped in tar, set upon a spike on London Bridge—a warning, a proclamation that resistance ends here.
Ross writes with fury, but also with love. He makes you feel not only Wallace’s agony but the loss endured by Scotland itself. This wasn’t just the murder of a man; it was an attempt to murder a dream, the dream of a people who refused to be ruled by an alien crown. And yet, even as he recounts the horror, Ross suggests that Edward’s cruelty backfired.
Far from extinguishing Wallace’s flame, the brutality of his death enshrined him as a martyr, as a symbol, as an eternal thorn in the English conscience.
Reading this book, it is impossible not to hate the English of that age—the arrogance of their kings, the cold hypocrisy of their courts, the sadism of their punishments. Ross makes sure you feel every lash of humiliation Wallace endured. It is history sharpened into a blade, a story told so viscerally that you end up seething at the injustice.
And it is not just about 1305—it is about power and oppression across all ages, about how empires try to grind down the spirit of the defiant.
For Freedom is devastating because it refuses to look away.
Many histories glide over Wallace’s end, mentioning only “executed” or “put to death”. Ross forces you to stand in that blood-soaked square and watch.
He gives Wallace back his last hours, restores to him the truth of what was done, and in doing so, ensures that no reader can ever walk away unmoved.
This book shook me.
It makes you mourn, it makes you rage, and above all, it makes you honour Wallace—not just as a warrior but as a man who, even in death, would not bend the knee.
September 20, 2014
Totally enjoyed this book! The author starts with a background on William Wallace, his career, betrayal, arrest, and execution. He takes you through on Wallace's route through London from where sentence was passed at a shame trial to his place of execution. It also covers the author's , 450 mile walk from Robroyston where Wallace was arrested to London on the 700th anniversary of event and the memorial service held for Wallace at St. Bartholomew the Great which stands near the execution spot. Ross' passion for his country, its history, and culture is ever evident as is his wit. Biography, history, and travel guide all wrapped up in one.
May 6, 2008
This book basically tells the story of a guy who commemorated William Wallace's death. He did a wonderful 700th anniversary celebration. What really gets me about this book, is the author's longing for Scottish freedom. He asks, why not? The passion of the author and the other Scots with him is contagious.
December 29, 2024
Scottish history.
January 4, 2018
Excellent read this brought tears to my eyes
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews