Napoleon: On War
Book
This is the book on war that Napoleon never had the time or the will to complete. In exile on the...
The Encyclopedia of World Ballet
Book
Throughout the centuries, ballet has had a rich and ever-evolving role in the humanities. Renowned...
The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology
Umberto Albarella, Mauro Rizzetto, Hannah Russ and Kim Vickers
Book
Animals have played a fundamental role in shaping human history, and the study of their remains from...
Christie's: The Jewellery Archives Revealed
Book
For centuries, the stories of the world's great jewellery collections have lain hidden within the...
Alexander the Great: A Very Short Introduction
Book
Alexander the Great became king of Macedon in 336 BC, when he was only 20 years old, and died at the...
Les Cigares du Pharaon (Cigars of the Pharaoh) (Tintin #4)
Book
Herge's classic comic book creation Tintin is one of the most iconic characters in children's books....
On the Wilder Shores of Love: A Bohemian Life
Lesley Blanch and Georgia de Chamberet
Book
Most famous for The Wilder Shores of Love, her book about four women travellers, Lesley Blanch was a...
Arab Orthodox Christians Under the Ottomans 1516-1831
Samuel Noble, Constantin Alexandrovich Panchenko and Brittany Pheiffer Noble
Book
Following the so called "Arab Spring" the world's attention has been drawn to the presence of...
Brian Eno recommended Farid El Atrache by Farid El Atrache in Music (curated)
ClareR (6054 KP) rated Shield of the Rising Sun (Path of Nemesis #3) in Books
Sep 8, 2020
The story is told by three characters: Albinus, his son Faustus, and Faustus’ uncle, Calvus. The battle scenes, mainly from Albinus’ point of view, were gory (I like this - I know, probably a bit odd!) and the politics with all the infighting and back-stabbing was fascinating. How did anyone ever feel safe at this time? I’ll answer that: if they were clever, they NEVER felt safe!
This story shows the true reach of the Roman Empire - there are scenes in Britain, Germany and Egypt, as well as in Rome. It frankly amazed me how quickly Roman soldiers seemed to be able to travel - and mostly (if not solely) on foot!
The main characters were all three very likeable men, who had me rooting for them throughout - even though it was pretty obvious what would happen to one of them from the start )I’m giving nothing away here!).
I enjoy reading a lot of historical fiction, and it’s not often that I read books set in the Roman period. I don’t know why, there’s no reason I can think of, and this makes me realise that I really should read more! If, like me, you’re a fan of historical fiction, then you’ll enjoy the rich descriptions and history packed story within the pages of this book.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book, and to Adam Lofthouse for joining in and commenting in the margins!

