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A Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall
by Bronwen Riley
An epic narrative journey from Rome to Hadrian's Wall - in the empire's northwestern frontier - brings vividly to life the colors, smells, sounds, and sensations of travel in the second century.
AD 130. Rome is the dazzling heart of a vast empire and Hadrian its most complex and compelling ruler. Faraway Britannia is one of the Romans' most troublesome provinces: here the sun is seldom seen and "the atmosphere in the country is always gloomy."
What awaits the traveller to Britannia? How will you get there? What do you need to pack? What language will you speak? How does London compare to Rome? Are there any tourist attractions? And what dangers lurk behind Hadrian's new Wall?
Combining an extensive range of Greek and Latin sources with a sound understanding of archaeology, Bronwen Riley describes an epic journey from Rome to Hadrian's Wall at the empire's northwestern frontier. In this strikingly original history of Roman Britain, she evokes the smells, sounds, colors, and sensations of life in the second century.
"Starred Review. Great fun for anyone with even a slight knowledge of Roman and English history and geography - or those curious about them." - Kirkus
"In graceful prose and with evocative illustrations, Jasanoff scores her points about conquest, collecting, and cultural crossing, offering a thoughtful and highly subtle study. This is her first book, and it's a very good one for all academic and research libraries." - Library Journal
"In this intriguing and readable book, Jasanoff, an assistant professor of British history at the University of Virginia, creates fertile common ground between the dominant stories put forth by postcolonial critics such as Edward Said and boosters like Niall Ferguson. 48 b&w illus." - Publishers Weekly
"Bronwen Riley writes superbly." - The Independent (UK)
"This wonderful book is a testament to this haunting land." - The Sunday Times (UK)
"Head off on an epic journey across the Roman Empire in this entertaining read. Bronwen Riley is a warm and insightful guide to the sights, sounds, artifacts and people you encounter along the way." - History Revealed (UK)
"Riley manages to bring multi-faceted, polyglot and multi-cultural Roman Britain to vibrant life." - Country Life (UK)
This information about The Edge of the Empire was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Bronwen Riley is the head of guidebooks at English Heritage. She studied Classics at Oxford and then Byzantine Art at the Courtauld Institute. She lives in England.
If you liked The Edge of the Empire, try these:
by Andre Aciman
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The author of Call Me by Your Name returns with a deeply romantic memoir of his time in Rome while on the cusp of adulthood.
by Jhumpa Lahiri
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The first short story collection by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author and master of the form since her number one New York Times best seller Unaccustomed Earth • Rome—metropolis and monument, suspended between past and future, multi-faceted and metaphysical—is the protagonist, not the setting, of these nine stories
by Italo Calvino
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Italo Calvino's beloved, intricately crafted novel about an Emperor's travels—a brilliant journey across far-off places and distant memory.
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