The first book I read last year was Rosemary Sutcliff’s Sword at Sunset. From there, I went through the full Eagle of the Ninth and ended with the King Arthur Trilogy. I read a lot of great books last year, and books aimed for my own age group, but rediscovering Sutcliff’s historical fiction was a… Continue reading The King Arthur Trilogy by Rosemary Sutcliff
Tag: Rome
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
Last year my esteemed publisher, John Hunter, recommended Marguerite Yourcenar’s Memoirs of Hadrian. In return, I’ve so far failed to produce a second book and most of my writing is now absorbed into the thrills and spills of local government. Hadrian was, of course, one of the great emperors of Ancient Rome. Today’s he’s most… Continue reading Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
Under Another Sky by Charlotte Higgins
Just before I flew to London, I read Under Another Sky: Journeys Through Roman Britain, in which Charlotte Higgins documents her Grand Tour of Roman monuments in the UK. When I arrived, I enthusiastically followed in her footsteps, searching a car park for remnants of the Roman wall, visiting the amphitheatre’s ruins underneath the Guildhall,… Continue reading Under Another Sky by Charlotte Higgins
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
Last year I set myself two goals for the year. To only read books by women, more on which here. To blog about each one. The first was a great success, and the latter an abysmal failure. One of the unexpected oddities of my year of gendered reading was a surprisingly large volume of histories… Continue reading SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard