Only one period in history is immediately linked to the whole area of the Scottish and English Border country, and that is the time of the Reivers. Whenever anyone mentions Reiver, no-one hesitates to add Border. This book tells the tale of a land that was a no-man's-land but a land over which blood was shed on both sides of an invisible border.

From the early fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth, the Anglo-Scottish borderlands witnessed one of the most intense periods of warfare and disorder ever seen in modern Europe. As a consequence of near-constant conflict between England and Scotland, Borderers suffered at the hands of marauding armies, who ravaged the land, destroying crops, slaughtering cattle, burning settlements and killing indiscriminately.

Forced by extreme circumstances, many Borderers took to reiving to ensure the survival of their families and communities, and for the best part of 300 years, countless raiding parties made their way over the border. The story of the Reivers is one of survival, stealth, treachery, ingenuity and deceit, expertly brought to life in Alistair Moffat’s acclaimed book.