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 Romans speak with American accents in film The Eagle. Why?

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With The Eagle film of Rosemary Sutcliff‘s The Eagle of the Ninth historical novel now shortly to be released in the US (February 11th), and also emerging in film festivals in the UK and Ireland, it is time to recall why the director Kevin Macdonald cast Americans as the Romans.

“It was always my concept for this film that the Romans would be Americans,” says Macdonald.

“That was my first idea about the movie and it still holds up whether or not we had any money from America, that would have been my approach.” The Eagle of the Ninth is based on a 1950s novel by Rosemary Sutcliff and stars Tatum as Marcus Aquila, an idealistic Roman soldier, whose uncle, Aquila, played by Sutherland, epitomises the confidence of the occupying army.  Read More »

Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth film The Eagle film excites Telegraph for 2011

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Rosemary Sutcliff, or more accurately The Eagle film of The Eagle of the Ninth novel, is The Daily Telegraph’s 38th reason for being excited about 2011! It is my Number One!

Rosemary Sutcliff’s beloved novel The Eagle of the Ninth gets the big screen treatment in Touching the Void director Kevin Macdonald’s new film  … Channing Tatum stars as the Roman soldier searching for the standard lost by his father’s legion in the wilds of northern England.
Source: The Daily Telegraph.

More about the book The Eagle of the Ninth, its film The Eagle, and writer Rosemary Sutcliff

Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth is found first in UK at Dublin and Glasgow film festivals

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THE EAGLE film based on Rosemary Sutcliff‘s The Eagle of the Ninth will be the closing, gala night, movie of the Glasgow Film Festival on Sunday, February 27th. It is also screening at the Dublin Film Festival the day before: 2:30 pm on Saturday, February 26th. The UK general release has gone back by one week and is now to be on Friday, March 25th. You heard it here early, if not first!

Rosemary Sutcliff success requires medieval book reading helpdesk

Anthony Lawton1 Comment

Rosemary Sutcliff’s worldwide success as an author of historical fiction and children’s literature required readers and a publishing industry! Happily the presence of  ‘help desks’ in the early Medieval days of books and reading, when these represented new technologies that ‘customers’ found confusing and difficult to use, led over the centuries to the fully fledged book technologies that meant people could and do enjoy Rosemary Sutcliff’s books.

Rosemary Sutcliff and The Eagle of the Ninth interests Roman blogger Emperor Antoninus Pius

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Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novel The Eagle of the Ninth was re-read in 2008 by the long deceased Roman emperor Antoninus Pius. Somewhat reincarnated, he is a vigorous blogger despite being 1924 years old.

… Above all, I was struck by Miss Sutcliff’s debt to Rudyard Kipling (which I had not noticed thirty years ago). Of course, in today’s world of web and wiki, it is easy to discover that she had a life-long interest in Kipling, culminating in the writing of a biography (long out of print). The most striking parallel for me is the little turf altar that Marcus builds in Chapter Eleven, because it is surely an echo of a scene sketched by Kipling in Puck of Pook’s Hill.

“Wait awhile,” said Pertinax, and he made a little altar of cut turf, and strewed heather-bloom atop, and laid upon it a letter from a girl in Gaul.
“What do you do, O my friend?” I said.
“I sacrifice to my dead youth,” he answered, and, when the flames had consumed the letter, he ground them out with his heel. Then we rode back to that Wall of which we were to be Captains. Read More »