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A History of Roman Britain
 
 

A History of Roman Britain [Kindle Edition]

Peter Salway
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Review

"One could not ask for a nore meticulous or scholarly assessment of what Britain meant to the Romans, or Rome to Britons, than Peter Salway's monumental study."--Sunday Times
"Superbly readable...splendid witness to the vivacity and accessibility of the latest work on this exciting period."--Sunday Telegraph
"There will be new discoveries; but this is a book that will surely stand the test of time."--Times Literary Supplement

Product Description

In A History of Roman Britain, noted classical historian Peter Salway provides a rich account of Britain's centuries under Roman rule. Britain, Salway writes, was a place of fascination for the Romans--a fascination he brings to life with beautiful maps and illustrations and a thorough, authoritative narrative.
Salway introduces us to what is known of the pre-Roman Britons, and deftly describes Julius Caesar's dramatic expeditions in 55 and 54 B.C; in the years that followed, new contacts grew between the Romans and the inhabitants of this strange island. Salway's comprehensive narrative blends together the changing politics and ways of life of the native Britons, the climactic conquest under Claudius and the subsequent, often violent consolidation, and the place of the new province in Imperial affairs. He carefully integrates the story of Roman Britain into the story of the Empire itself, showing the close attention the emperors paid to British affairs, and the interventions in imperial politics by the legions stationed there. Salway draws on the latest archeological finds, thoughtfully assessing the evidence and weaving it into his seamless narrative.
Highly authoritative and readable, A History of Roman Britain brings alive the classical past of a familiar part of today's world.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 7149 KB
  • Print Length: 608 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0192853384
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Abridged edition (9 Oct 1997)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B0029ZBL20
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #128,494 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have bought this book to help with my studies in field archaeology as I need to know an extensive amount about the Roman Period and his book has everything relevant, Salway writes in such a way that the average leyman can understand this simplistic but fascinating style of writing along with the footnotes have helped me write several essays this book is a goldmine of source material - the inclusion of several maps of Roman Britain is a stroke of pure genius.

I heartilly recommend this book to anyone who hads an extensive interest in Rome & it's people & empire.

However if the reader has only a passive interest in Roman History this may be heavy reading (and not entirely suitable for schoolchildren to use as a study aid) as Salway does tend to veer away from the point sometimes albeit for a short while it can be distracting and there are sometimes Omissions such as years (I know we cannot date archaeological evidence exactly but a 'ballpark' estimate would be nice) Salway also uses the writing of Tacitus a roman historian - sometimes so much so that I feel I no Longer need to read the writings of Tacitus as they all are here.

all in all an excellent aid for the older student.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Roman Britain 12 Nov 2011
By a flynn
Format:Paperback
It always seems a bit impertinent to criticise a serious and scholarly book by an expert in a field in which one is not very knowledgeable oneself. Salway's book is balanced, full, well-sourced and ranges across the full history and geography of Britain 55 BC -circa 400. It combines narrative with analysis, mentions the problems scholars and archaeologists have debated, and is well sourced without being a cluttered mass of footnotes and bibliography. No dount its standards of research and accuracy are high.

Yet--and I do say this on the basis of loving the subject of Roman Britain, not disliking it--it is rather dull. (Worthy and dull?)
How could he have got round this? Some suggestions from a non-specialist:
--hanging explanations and issues round colourful but also crucial historical events and events
--starting chapters with stimulating and evocative "mysteries": just how did that archaeological find cause us to rethink? just what did that remark of Tacitus mean? just when and why did the Romans leave?
--shorter, punchier sentences. It is quite a good idea not to have an overall assertion and supporting eviednce in the same long sentence, and then further evidence in the next sentence: but it often happens here.
--putting key maps or tables at helpful places in the text instead of in a clump at the front.
One is reminded of that old adage: "Writing history is still writing". In places the style is not only flat but convoluted. To take a genuinely random example:

"If we are right in seeing the 'waves' of imported coins as representing actual movements of people--and it might be safer but unhelpful in constructing a hypothesis simply to record the coins without interruption--then it was probably in the later second century BC that Britain first began to feel the pressure from Germany on the people known to the ancients vaguely as the Belgae".

Surely there are better ways to say this? This book is much easier to put down than to keep open, I fear.
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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you are looking for a book that gives you the specific details of Roman Britian that's written in a way that's fairly easy to read unlike some books of this nature, then this is a book for you. It gives you more than just dates and makes a good addition to your library!

It has all kinds of fascinating details from what life was like in the country, religion, Britain before the Romans came and how it was after they left. It gives you so much more than just dates as someone suggested. Very good.
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