Spartacus Review

Volume 39: 3rd November, 2009

Reference

Title: When it Happened in Britain

Author: George Chamier

Editor:

Publisher: Constable & Robinson

Price: £9.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: British History

Category:

This is a whistle-stop tour through 2,000 years of our nation's story from the Roman invasion to the Falklands War. Setting out the wide sweep of British history that is often ignored, historian George Chamier weaves together a reader-friendly combination of key dates with linking narrative. Here are all our good Kings and usurpers, low dealings and acts of heroism, moments of great conquest, empire or defeat - and through it all the story of the formation of the United Kingdom. All told in lively and amusing short chapters, this is the perfect book for the person who can never quite remember the key dates in British history or feels exasperated that their friends and family are so ignorant of British history.

Title: Britannica Latina

Author: Mark Walker

Editor:

Publisher: History Press

Price: £9.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: British History

Category:

Beginning with what the Romans themselves had to say about far-flung Britain, "Britannica Latina" presents Latin selections from British writers covering a period of 2000 years in the same user-friendly format as "Annus Horribilis" and "Annus Mirabilis". This fascinating miscellany of Anglo-Latin includes tales of King Arthur from the histories by Nennius and Geoffrey of Monmouth: the wizardry of Merlin from Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini; the martyrdom of St Alban as told by the Venerable Bede; extracts from Domesday Book and Magna Carta; and, the Laws of Motion explained by Isaac Newton in his Principia Mathematica. Each chapter includes historical and biographical background information and informative grammatical notes, making translation fun for all Latinists. Full English translations are given at the back of the book. It's time for British Latinists to reclaim their heritage.