Thirty years after Mel Gibson painted his face half-blue and pulled on a kilt (a good three centuries before they were the fashion in Scotland), the pervading idea about Braveheart is this: it’s bad history. More than any other historical film, it’s near impossible to talk about Gibson’s William Wallace epic outside of its many factual errors. Just ask Brian Cox , who appeared in Braveheart and who described the film as “b-------” and “a lie” during an appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Cox has a point. Dates, events, and characters are changed. The Battle of Stirling Bridge is missing the, erm, bridge. Weapons and costumes are anachronistic. And a love affair between Wallace and Isabella of France (Sophie Marceau) is entirely fabricated, seemingly just so Gi

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