- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Phoenix; illustrated edition edition (16 April 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0753823705
- ISBN-13: 978-0753823705
- Product Dimensions: 2.5 x 13.3 x 19.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 268,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Farewell Britannia: A Family Saga of Roman Britain
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Review
"the greatest acheivement of this magnificent work is its success in breathing life into real people" (THE HERALD )
Peter Jones, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
'For imaginative and thrilling engagement with the history of those... chaotic times, Farewell Britannia will be very hard to beat.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
You may have read Simon Young's book "500 AD", in which case you'll know what to expect, as he sets out to make his learning as accessible as possible. Of course, lots of authors research an aspect of history and write a novel based on it (the Sharpe novels or even `The da Vinci Code'), but Young is something slightly different, a historian writing plausible fiction.
AD500 was about Britain and Ireland in the `Dark Ages', as the title suggests and `Farewell Britannia' covers the period from 55BC to 430AD. The story is told from the point-of-view of a Romano-Briton at the end of this period as his society descends into anarchy. He reviews the history of his family over 500 years and relives turning points in the family's fortunes, selected by the author to be both dramatic and informative, with the emphasis on the dramatic. There are fifteen chapters, linked by a family tree so you can see that the chapter you are now starting is about the grandson of the woman who was the main character of the previous chapter, plus some words of introduction from the 430AD Romano-Briton. Then it's told from the point-of-view of the chapter's main character and Young shows his eye for a plot that will engage a 21st century audience. There's Caesar's 55BC expedition to England, an attack on the Antonine Wall, an affair between a master and slave, an espionage plot in London, a visit to a druid temple, a death in the baths at Bath, and so on. Personally I didn't find any dud chapters at all, but if you did each one is only 15 pages long so you could easily skip to the next one.
Are there any problems? There's the obvious issue of plausibility with so many dramatic things happening to one family but fiction is the willing suspension of disbelief and I was engrossed in each chapter. The main impression I was left with was of some of the colour of these crucial days in the history of Britain. "Farewell Britannia" is an excellent addition to "500AD" and I have already ordered "The Celts", Young's third book. Simon Young, please work harder - I'm catching you up!
AD500 was about Britain and Ireland in the `Dark Ages', as the title suggests and `Farewell Britannia' covers the period from 55BC to 430AD. The story is told from the point-of-view of a Romano-Briton at the end of this period as his society descends into anarchy. He reviews the history of his family over 500 years and relives turning points in the family's fortunes, selected by the author to be both dramatic and informative, with the emphasis on the dramatic. There are fifteen chapters, linked by a family tree so you can see that the chapter you are now starting is about the grandson of the woman who was the main character of the previous chapter, plus some words of introduction from the 430AD Romano-Briton. Then it's told from the point-of-view of the chapter's main character and Young shows his eye for a plot that will engage a 21st century audience. There's Caesar's 55BC expedition to England, an attack on the Antonine Wall, an affair between a master and slave, an espionage plot in London, a visit to a druid temple, a death in the baths at Bath, and so on. Personally I didn't find any dud chapters at all, but if you did each one is only 15 pages long so you could easily skip to the next one.
Are there any problems? There's the obvious issue of plausibility with so many dramatic things happening to one family but fiction is the willing suspension of disbelief and I was engrossed in each chapter. The main impression I was left with was of some of the colour of these crucial days in the history of Britain. "Farewell Britannia" is an excellent addition to "500AD" and I have already ordered "The Celts", Young's third book. Simon Young, please work harder - I'm catching you up!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I borrowed this book from my local library but I'm now buying my own copy. This book is brilliant! It is a mix of facts and fiction and is beautifully written. It had me hooked like a good novel and intrigued like a good text book. It is full of interesting vignettes about Roman and Celtic/Pictish life in Britain. It had me laughing and crying and feeling better informed - what more can you want?
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An excellent and involving read which brings the characters to life and gives a real feel of life as the Roman world existed in Britain. The clever idea of linking known people to a 'family' gives a sense of continuity and helps the reader to 'feel' a part of their world.
Thoroughly recommended as an entertaining as an easy read.
Thoroughly recommended as an entertaining as an easy read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
It, would, have been, five, stars, but for, all the ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
This is an excellent book. It succeeds in that most difficult of literary tasks, namely `getting under the skin' and `seeing out of the eyes' of people from another civilisation... Read more
Published 24 days ago by JAW
An Engaging Exploration of the History of Roman Britain
In "Farewell Britania," Simon Young explores the rise and fall of Roman Britain through a series of short stories, told in 430 AD by one of the last survivors of a noble Roman... Read more
Published 13 months ago by William Holmes
Delighted to see this book is now on Kindle
I thought it a crying shame when this little gem of a book went out of print. The saying 'Do not judge a book by its cover' has never been more true of this novel. Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2009 by Ben Kane
roman britain at its most colourful
You could say that this author has gone to the lowest denominator looking always for the strangest and weirdest side of Romano-British life at the expense of more conventional but... Read more
Published on 28 April 2007 by james
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