Paul Johnson
First Among Feminists
Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen
By Richard Hingley and Christina Unwin
There are many books about Boudica, and more continue to appear. Most are bad. This account, by two archaeologists, is a good one, and gives us all that we know for sure about this interesting figure, and all the myths and fantasies which have been built up around her. She was a contemporary of the emperors Claudius and Nero, and led a surprisingly successful British revolt against Roman rule in AD 60–61, that is at the time when St Paul was writing his epistles to the Corinthians and St Mark composed his Gospel.
We have three literary sources for Boudica, two by Tacitus (c AD 56–117). In Agricola, the life of his father-in-law, later Governor of Britain, which was written within living memory of the revolt, Tacitus says that while the then Governor, Suetonius Paulinus, was conquering Anglesey, the oppressed Britons (‘the whole
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
On the night of 5th July 1809, a group of soldiers kidnapped Pope Pius VII on the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte. Munro Price looks at what happened next.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/bonaparte-meets-his-match
'She lived in a damp basement with her mother and sister, smoking roll-ups and talking to her parrot.'
Joanna Kavenna traces the life of the 'almost-forgotten poet' Charlotte Mew.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/she-hated-poetry-readings
'If, as James Wolcott once claimed, Roth was a miracle of modern medicine, he was also one of therapy’s notable failures.'
@leorobsonwriter on Philip Roth, that 'walking, wanking paradox'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-great-american-novelist