For 700 years William Wallace has been revered as an incomparable Scottish hero, famous for defending his homeland against the tyranny of Edward I of England. Through his personality, ingenuity and ability, he initiated a resistance movement which ultimately secured the nation's freedom and independence. Yet Wallace was reviled, opposed and eventually betrayed by the nobility in his own day, only to re-surface in the epic poetry of the fifteenth century as a champion and liberator. Eventually, his legend overtook the historical reality, a process which has continued to the present day. 

A team of leading historians and critics from both Scotland and England investigate what is known of the medieval warrior's career from contemporary sources, most of which, unusually for a national hero, were created by his enemies. His reputation, from the time of his horrendous execution to the present, is examined to discover what the figure of Wallace meant to different generations of Scots. Too dangerous perhaps for his own era, he became the supreme Scottish hero of all time, who taught kings and nobles where their duty lay, and who was willing to die for the liberty of his nation.