The Siege of Trencher's Farm complex examination of modern-day masculinity and liberal values." "Slant Magazine" found that "Much of the novel's prose reads like a screenplay, with tedious descriptions of props, settings, and physical actions ... tension only really matters if you identify with the characters and care about their predicament, which I found too implausible, fantastic, and crudely sketched to do so." Legal scholar Melanie Williams wrote of how the 1971 film had coloured reception of the book: "The book is now republished by Bloomsbury (2003), with the title "Straw Dogs". This seems particularly sad given that past critical commentary on the book has
The Siege of Trencher's Farm for the book came from the panic and sense of siege where Williams lived in Devon when "The Mad Axeman" Frank Mitchell escaped from nearby Dartmoor Prison. Williams wrote the book in nine days – "he dashed off the final page to catch the post office van" – and received £300 from the publisher. "The List" included the book among its "100 Best Scottish Books of all Time", dubbing it "a deliberation on how traditional masculine values find a place in modern society". Author Ian Rankin wrote that "This novel is quite different to the eventual movie version, being a