(D.D.R. Owen for Tuckwell Press) This is really not very good. William was the son of Prince Henry of Scots (beaten on the field of The Standard) and succeeded his brother Malcolm the Maiden. He pursued a stolid (but unsuccessful) campaign to be seised of Northumbria and Cumbria. Given rebellious Vikings over the Great Glen and rebellious Galwegians William's position as a sub-king to the Plantagenets never altered. He was unfortunate enough to lose the first round when captured before Alnwick (defended by the godly William de Vesci) and had to cough up a number of key fortresses. Faced by the mighty Angevin kings we can perhaps forgive William if he chose not to try this again. The weakening of Henry II and the family feuds arrived too late in William's life to do much. This at least is how I think it was because Owen is very weak on setting the situation in context. To be fair his major interest is in the literary history of the period, and I suggest he should repair to that speciality hot foot! More Book Corner: The King's Army Culloden and The '45 1918 The Unexpected Victory The Boyne & Aughrim Scalp Dance Napoleon William The Lion 1143-1214 The Art of Warfare During The Middle Ages Philip Augustus James IV The Twilight of a Military Tradition Colonial Empires And Armies 1815-1960 Back to Perfidious Albion #96 Table of Contents Back to Perfidious Albion List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Charles and Teresa Vasey. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com