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Review
Tremendous fun, as Julian Rathbone plays fast and loose with great swathes of American history . . . He wears his learning lightly and has a disarmingly flippant side. BIRTH OF A NATION is notable for the sheer breadth of the material it contains. The narrative meanders, but to excellent purpose, as Rathbone finds a succession of contrasting milieus, all superbly described, for his itinerant hero . . . the novel can be recommended without reservation. It has all the ingredients -- a likeable hero, a string of feisty heroines, well-drawn locales, dramatic reversals of fortune -- of the classic English adventure story (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
Julian Rathbone has always set subversively right the things most popular fiction is content to leave wrong. His thrillers are in the fine tradition of Eric Ambler: radical critiques of the way things are, and of the way most thrillers accept that status (INDEPENDENT )
If history, as Marx suggested, repeats itself first as tragedy and next as farce, then Charlie's rollicking version of it is firmly in the second camp (FINANCIAL TIMES )
Clever stuff this. Rathbone writes well, has a vast knowledge of his subject, and is witty (HERALD )
Julian Rathbone has always set subversively right the things most popular fiction is content to leave wrong. His thrillers are in the fine tradition of Eric Ambler: radical critiques of the way things are, and of the way most thrillers accept that status (INDEPENDENT )
If history, as Marx suggested, repeats itself first as tragedy and next as farce, then Charlie's rollicking version of it is firmly in the second camp (FINANCIAL TIMES )
Clever stuff this. Rathbone writes well, has a vast knowledge of his subject, and is witty (HERALD )
Book Description
* A heady cocktail of fact and fiction this is a hilarious exploration of the lacunae in official histories, demonstrating that it's the fittest who survive - but the fittest are not necessarily the biggest and strongest. The sequel to the hugely successful A VERY ENGLISH AGENT
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
We follow the story of Charlie Bosham/Boylam from the Galapagos through the expanding America seeking its Manifest Destiny and back to London. We learn that he has escaped what seemed to be an inevitable meeting with the hangman (just as well - another novel is promised).
Much of the story is set in the U.S. and the areas it invaded in the 1840s, and since American history is less familiar than our own, the opportunities for felicitous contemporary references that the reader can easily pick up are fewer - no Shelleys or Peterloo radicals here. For this reason, perhaps less interesting than its predecessor (hence the 4 stars). Boylan/Bosham's opinion of the United States, and his version of the Alamo I shouldn't imagine will win this novel much favour with neocon American readers.
The strength of the novel comes in the final section, where Rathbone traces out the future of Darwin's 'transmutation' philosophy to point to the Social Darwinism that emerged a decade later, setting the scene for the imperialist push and racism and classism of the late Victorian age. Suddenly we are confronted with issues of resonance today, rather than just safely buried in the past.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I hope Mr. Rathbone had as much fun writing this as I had reading it! Good old storytelling, a bit tongue in cheek, but for all that, is all the more pleasurable. Highly recommended, along with his other "history" books.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sort of, anyway.
Rathbone has his own take on history as the previous novels in this series,'Joseph' and 'A Very English Agent' so clearly demonstrate.
Modern references for the sake of humour or not....all three books are hugely entertaining and more historically sound than may be generally realised.Different to 'Flashman',I agree but nevetheless highly entertaining and very 'tongue in cheek'......along with the 'Donner Party' I had better not put my 'foot in it'......sorry,a rather silly joke on the black humour to be found in the book,I apologise.
All in all..very good...but read this,so far,trilogy in order.In the immortal words of Douglas Adams...this could well be a trilogy of four books.
Rathbone has his own take on history as the previous novels in this series,'Joseph' and 'A Very English Agent' so clearly demonstrate.
Modern references for the sake of humour or not....all three books are hugely entertaining and more historically sound than may be generally realised.Different to 'Flashman',I agree but nevetheless highly entertaining and very 'tongue in cheek'......along with the 'Donner Party' I had better not put my 'foot in it'......sorry,a rather silly joke on the black humour to be found in the book,I apologise.
All in all..very good...but read this,so far,trilogy in order.In the immortal words of Douglas Adams...this could well be a trilogy of four books.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good romp
What I like about these novels (told in the Flashman vein) is that they are always very funny and don't take themselves too seriously. Read more
Published on 18 July 2007 by R. Morrell
Birth of a Nation
I have read some of Julian Rathbone's work before I picked up this one. It is a rattling adventure yarn with its hero being present entirely co-incidentally at just too many points... Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2006
Great story well told
A very enjoyable book - kind of easy reading without feeling like trash. Wonderful set pieces, some good characters, lovely use of anachronism, funny footnotes... Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2005 by Jezza
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