The Reivers

From the early fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth, the Anglo-Scottish borderlands suffered one of the most intense periods of warfare and disorder in modern Europe.

As a consequence of constant conflict, Borderers suffered horribly at the hands of marauding armies who ravaged their land, destroying crops, slaughtering cattle, burning settlements and killing indiscriminately. Forced by extreme circumstances, many took to reiving to ensure their survival. For the best part of 300 years, countless raiding parties made their way over the border, often returning under the cover of darkness, leading their prize of stolen livestock back through wild, empty country.

The story of the Reivers is one of survival, stealth, treachery, ingenuity and deceit.



Alistair Moffat was born and bred in the Scottish Borders. A former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Director of Programmes at Scottish Television and founder of the Borders Book Festival, he is also the author of a number of highly acclaimed books. From 2011 he was Rector of the University of St Andrews. He has written more than thirty books on Scottish history, and lives in the Scottish Borders.



'Think Peaky Blinders but with swords and a taste for cattle rustling'



'This is a page-turning history, lucidly written, and it is enhanced by a selection of five famous Border ballads. One of the best reads of the year, without doubt'



'This is a history as exciting and dramatic as the Border ballads themselves'



'It is the passion and pride in the land of his birth that shine through in this superb new work'