Thinking of readers, I remember, with gratitude and some pain, a class of girls in a London secondary school in the early seventies. The parents of most of them had come from the Caribbean; I guess their own children are now in school. Then they were the first of their kind to speak out their awareness of the complications we now call `multi-cultural’. They were reading with their gifted teacher, Joan Goody, The Eagle of the Ninth (by Rosemary Sutcliff). On this particular day they ignored the dashing young Roman hero, recovering from a battle wound in his uncle’s house in Bath, and concentrated on the girl next door, Cottia, a Briton. Cottia’s uncle and aunt were taking her to the games, and in their hankering after Roman ways had tried to insist that she wear Roman clothes and speak Latin. Cottia protested, and so did the readers, on her behalf. I’ve never heard a more spirited discussion than that one, when those girls spoke indirectly of their nearest concerns in arguing on behalf of Cottia, who existed only in a book.
Category: The Eagle of the Ninth
The Eagle of the Ninth and Warrior Scarlet by Rosemary Sutcliff | Favourite books of Philip Reeve
The Eagle of the Ninth and Warrior Scarlet by Rosemary Sutcliff (are one of my favourite books) … or I could have chosen Knight’s Fee, or The Lantern Bearers, or Sun-horse, Moon-horse, or Frontier Wolf … Rosemary Sutcliff is one of my favourite children’s authors, and I doubt she ever wrote a bad book, but these were the two I liked best when I was growing up.Read More »
Ben Kane, historical novelist, favourite author Rosemary Sutcliff | Interview in The Independent
Choose a favourite author, and say why you admire her/him
Rosemary Sutcliff. I was probably no older than nine or ten when I read ‘The Eagle of the Ninth’ and it had a huge influence on me; it’s one of the reasons I ended up writing about Rome. I was so struck by her imagery of Hadrian’s Wall and the wilds of Scotland, and the idea of the soldiers disappearing there.
via One Minute With: Ben Kane, historical novelist | The Independent.
Rosemary Sutcliff’s children’s and historical fiction classic The Eagle of the Ninth on Kindle for 99p!
Amazon are selling Rosemary Sutcliff‘s classic historical novel, The Eagle of the Ninth, for the Kindle in the UK for 99p! In the US it is $1.54! This classic of children’s literature is still relevant and readable today, and is a bargain for all you new Kindle owners who can be tempted by historical fiction (or who saw the movie The Eagle earlier this year). On the Amazon site author Ben Kane gave a brief review.
… The Eagle of the Ninth was one of the first historical fiction books I can remember reading as a child, and it instilled in me a great love of all things Roman. When wanting to change career from that of a veterinarian to a writer, Eagle of the Ninth helped inspire me to write Roman fiction. Quite simply, this, in my opinion, is one of the best historical fiction books ever written. Suitable for all ages from 8 or so upwards, it is a stirring read about the pursuit of honour in the face of great danger. Thoroughly recommended.
Rosemary Sutcliff selling well | Bestselling books of 2011 | The Guardian
The Guardian newspaper has presented the aggregate information on physical book sales in Britain in 2011.
Three already elderly Stieg Larsson thrillers topped last year’s all-year bestsellers table, followed by Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals (the Christmas No 1) and Guinness World Records, with One Day and The Help just outside the top 10. Glance at 2011’s chart, and you could be forgiven for wondering if 12 months have really passed.
For this was a year when old books saw off new ones, and paperbacks sent hardbacks packing. The same seven titles merely change places, with Larsson’s musty trio and David Nicholls’s and Kathryn Stockett’s two-year-old novels all given renewed sales muscle by movie versions.
Interestingly – to me – the combined sales (some 23,500 books) of the two versions of Rosemary Sutcliff‘s 1950s historical novel The Eagle of the Ninth, whilst way down in the full charts, put her in the top twenty (by volume) of the historical and mythological fiction category. On top of that about her publisher Oxford University Press sold about 6,700 copies of The Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles (which also includes The Silver Branch and The Lantern Bearers). Highest seller by volume in historical fiction was Philippa Gregory’s The Red Queen, with nearly 200,000! And in there in the top ten is Rosemary Sutcliff fan Ben Kane. Congratulations!
In children’s fiction, which embraces The Wimpy Kids books as well as J K Rowling, Enid Blyton and Alex Scarrow, (to highlight some very different genres of children’s book), such a volume of sales only allows Rosemary to creep in to the top hundred in about 90th place for The Eagle of the Ninth (although I have not looked to see if there are any duplicate versions of the same title in those above or below her ‘position’).
Historical Fiction Top Twenty
| Title | Author | Volume | Binding |
| The Red Queen | Philippa Gregory | 193,263 | Paperback |
| My Last Duchess | Daisy Goodwin | 108,176 | Paperback |
| Death of Kings | Bernard Cornwell | 64,876 | Hardback |
| The Confession of Katherine Howard | Suzannah Dunn | 63,259 | Paperback |
| Empire of Silver | Conn Iggulden | 62,737 | Paperback |
| the Lady of the Rivers | Philippa Gregory | 51,994 | Hardback |
| The Road to Rome: Forgotten Legion Chronicles | Ben Kane | 50,137 | Paperback |
| The White Queen | Philippa Gregory | 46,840 | Paperback |
| The Captive Queen | Alison Weir | 42,783 | Paperback |
| Heresy | S. J. Parris | 42,029 | Paperback |
| Insurrection | Robyn Young | 38,654 | Paperback |
| Wolf Hall | Hilary Mantel | 35,516 | Paperback |
| Conqueror | Conn Iggulden | 33,909 | Hardback |
| Rome: The Emperor’s Spy | M. C. Scott | 26,650 | Paperback |
| Revelation:Shardlake | C. J. Sansom | 25,711 | Paperback |
| Praetorian | Simon Scarrow | 24,282 | Hardback |
| Secrets of the Tudor Court | Darcey Bonnette | 24,020 | Paperback |
| The Sisters Brothers | Patrick deWitt | 23,740 | Paperback |
| The Eagle of the Ninth | Rosemary Sutcliff | 23,397 | Paperback |
Source: Bestselling books of 2011 – Commentary | Books | The Guardian
Click here for spreadsheet of full Guardian-Nielsen data, if you want to play …
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ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF (1920-92) 