Customer Reviews

Roman Britain: A Very Short Introduction

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I like books that get to where they are going to fast. Especially books that deal with historical subjects that have had so much written about them you don't know which way to turn. It has to be said that British-Romano History is one such subject that comes under this sometimes dubious honoor.

Roman Brtain - A Very Short Introduction has four compact chapters covering the subjects like the beginnings of British history, the Roman Conquest of Britain, Britain under Roman rule and finally then end of Roman rule in Britain. There is also a Chronology which takes you through from the beginning of Roman occupation up until its end in 409AD.

I like this book as you can find which part of British-Roman history you want to delve into and go from there. It even has a short section on the ill fated revolt of the Iceni Queen Boudicca, along with other important subjects such as the rise of Christianity and the building of Hadrian's Wall.

There are several photos and illustrations plus some maps, one showing an overview of 2nd Century Roman Britain.

This a compact, easy to read book that will give you a taster of Romano-British History from beginning to end. However if you want something more substantial then this book probably won't give you what you want.

Quick reading at an affordable price.

For their entries on British history in this excellent series, OUP have extracted 8 sections from their Oxford Illustrated History of Britain. Roman Britain is the first. I recommend that you actually make it a 9-part history and start with The Celts: A Very Short Introduction, because that gives a useful background to this present volume.

Because of its provenance, this book is more conventional and less quirky than other Very Short Introductions. It is a solid, readable and engrossing introductory survey of four centuries of Roman rule. Salway provides enough information about events in other parts of the empire, including Rome itself, to provide the necessary context. It has plenty of surprising facts (to me at least) such as the population of Roman Britain being much larger than it was in the next few centuries, and that Claudius entered Colchester complete with elephants (can that really be true?). The illustrations are well chosen and there is a very useful chronology at the end.

At its peak, Roman rule extended over the entire Mediterranean region, and encompassed much of what is now known as Western Europe. Britain was at the far northwestern part of this vast, powerful empire and for four centuries it was an important Roman province. This very short introduction aims to introduce the reader to this period in British history. The book is aimed at the general public, and is very accessible and well written.

Unfortunately, we don't have much of a written record that can enlighten us with all the intricacies of the Roman rule in the British Isles. Most of the evidence comes from the archeological findings of material culture. Nonetheless, archeology can still teach us a lot about the events and developments that transpired almost two thousand years ago. Also, as a part of Roman Empire, British history of this period can be understood within the context of wider Roman history. Here the written record is much more detailed, and it helps with shedding more light on the subject of British history.

This is perhaps the shortest book in the whole "very short introduction" series, but is nonetheless reasonably thorough for its size. In addition to the well-written prose, the book contains several photographs of archeological finds and maps that help with the visualization of the ancient history. Anyone who is interested in getting a better grasp of British history would benefit from reading this short informative book.

Number seventeen in a fantastic series of "very short introductions" geared to specific periods in history. Roman Britain gives you all the facts and details about Roman Britain, from the beginning days with Caesar and Claudius, through all the important emperors, up to Rome's withdrawal and how Britain was abandoned to the barbaric tribes. With a detailed timeline and useful index, as well as some suggested further readings, the book is a useful reference chapbook for the avid historian or the student dealing with a basic history class.

Originally published on October 21st, 2002.

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For about three hundred and fifty years, the lands that we now know as England and Wales were ruled by the Romans - and Peter Salway's book, as the name of the series it belongs to indicates - is a very short introduction to this crucial period in Britain's history.

At about 80 pages this is the shortest book in this series I have ever read. To the best of my knowledge of the subject its information is up-to-date and accurate; it does a good job of following the story of Roman Britannia, its people, and its culture, from the Claudian conquests of the 40's AD to the official withdrawal in the 410's.

For someone with little or no knowledge of this topic - but a particular interest in it - I would very highly recommend this book. For my fellow dedicated students of the Roman World, however, there will be very little if any new material or exciting revelations in it.

To understand Roman Britain one ought to understand the Roman Empire of which it was a part: the division between East and West, the various potentates in Gaul and Britain and so on. It also helps to understand who the various emperors were, their personalities and the problems they were facing outside of Britain.

A short book like this one cannot discuss in detail the environment within which Roman Britain existed and then disappeared. So a reader is left with a general impression of a world coming to an end.