Author: Anthony Lawton

Chair, Sussex Dolphin, family company which looks after the work of eminent children’s & historical fiction author Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-92). Formerly CEO, chair & trustee of various charity, cultural & educational enterprises in UK. Sometimes a consultant.

Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth in at least 15 languages

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Rosemary Sutcliff is, as the readers and commenters on this blog attest, an internationally read and respected writer for children aged 8 to 88, of historical novels and other stories. As well as being published in English for the UK and Eire, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, US and Canada, and readers of English everywhere, I believe The Eagle of the Ninth or some of the so-styled ‘trilogy’ (The Silver Branch, The Lantern Bearers) are published or about-to-be published internationally in these languages:

Brazillian Portuguese – Editora Record
Dutch – Facet
French – Gallimard
German – Verlag Freis Geistesleben
Greek – Aiora
Italian – Mondadori
Japan – Iwanami
Korean – Sigongsa
Portuguese – Gradiva
Romanian – Litera
Russian – Azbooka
Spanish – Plataforma
Swedish – Forlaget Barnstenen
Turkish – Ithaki

“As The Eagle film dramatises ancient tale, the 2,000 year riddle of Rome’s lost Ninth Legion is solved” | Mail Online

Anthony Lawton5 Comments

Rosemary Sutcliff‘s imagined fate of the ninth legion, as told in her historical novel for young adults The Eagle of the Ninth, which is the basis for the new film The Eagle, is about to receive support from a new documentary by UK producer-director Phil Hirst. According to the UK Daily Mail:

For centuries, historians have puzzled over the disappearance of a legion of 5,000 battle-hardened Roman soldiers in northern Britain around 108 AD.The ancient riddle, which has captivated storytellers, has just been dramatised by Hollywood in The Eagle, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell. Now, experts have revealed that the children’s book on which the film is based is more fact than fiction …

The dramatic new evidence hinges on a single gravestone tribute and was brought to light by historian and film-maker Phil Hirst, whose documentary Rome’s Lost Legion will be screened next month.

I know this is going to be controversial, not least from various conversations and comments on this blog! But it is good publicity for Phil Hirst’s documentary, the film The Eagle, and let us hope also, the book The Eagle of the Ninth. (The documentary Rome’s Lost Legion is on the History Channel on March 18. The Eagle opens in UK cinemas on March 25. The book has been available since 1954 …)

Source: As a Hollywood film dramatises ancient tale, the 2,000 year riddle of Rome’s lost Ninth Legion is solved at last | Mail Online.

The Eagle ฝ่าหมื่นตาย | The Eagle of the Ninth found in Thailand

Anthony Lawton1 Comment

The Eagle film of Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novel The Eagle of the Ninth opens in Thailand on 25th February (I believe). Chasing Google translations of internet material throws up some intriguing – but comprehensible – translations. Thus:

ในศตวรรษที่ 2 ประเทศอังกฤษ ชายหนุ่ม 2 คน คนหนึ่งเป็น เจ้านาย อีกคนเป็น
ทาส ทั้ง 2 อยู่บนเส้นทางที่มุ่งหน้าไปยังดินแดนห่างไกลสุดชายชอบ ดินแดนที่เต็มไป
ด้วย  ภัยอันตราย   บนเส้นทางที่    เป็นบทพิสูจน์ ระหว่างความจงรักภักดีกับการทรยศ
หักหลัง, มิตรภาพ, ความเคียดแค้น, การล่อลวง และ จิตวิญญาณของวีรบุรุษ

becomes “In the second century England a young man two people , one and one is a master. The two slaves on a road that headed to distant lands like most men. Land filled. With danger on the path of a proof. Between loyalty and betrayal. Betrayal, friendship, rage, deception, and the spirit of the hero.” And

The Eagle ฝ่าหมื่นตาย
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The Eagle movie compared to classic American western- Hammervision Movie Review

Anthony LawtonLeave a comment

For those of you still wrestling with whether to see “The Eagle”, I think it is a fair statement to compare it to such classic early American westerns as “A Man Called Horse” (1970) and “A Man in the Wilderness” (1971). Both starred the late Richard Harris as an American trapper and explorer forced to come to grips with the indigenous people whose land he was invading. In “The Eagle”, Tatum goes through the same metamorphosis as he sees first hand the destruction that Rome has visited on local tribes in the name of glory and conquest.
Source: Movie Review – The Eagle – Hammervision.

The Eagle film from The Eagle of the Ninth book by Rosemary Sutcliff in Singapore

Anthony LawtonLeave a comment

A thoughtful friend, who cares about Rosemary Sutcliff‘s work as well as his friends, has taken time en route to New Zealand to email me that :

The posters for the film are large in Singapore, with RS attributed.  Just thought you should know.

Thank you, Peter!