Rosemary Sutcliff’s ‘De roemruchte daden van Robin Hood’ (The Chronicles of Robin Hood) – a retelling of the story of Robin Hood – was awarded a Zilveren Griffel book award in 1971 in Holland. This is a Childrens/Young Adult book award. Anita Meulstee from the Netherlands, on Library Thing, alerted meRead More »
Tag: children’s literature
Rosemary Sutcliff book awards and nominations
Numerous book awards were won by Rosemary Sutcliff for historical novels and writing for children and young people in the UK, the USA, Denwmark, Holland and elsewhere. She won these awards at least (almost all listed on LibraryThing):
The Eagle of the Ninth Book versions since 1954
The Eagle of the Ninth film/movie (starring Channing Tatum , Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Tahir Raman, Mark Strong) is creating increased interest in Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novel, which has sold over a million copies since it first came out in 1954. These are the versions of The Eagle of the Ninth in the UK I know of, recorded at the British Library at the time of posting.
FULL VERSIONS
- 1954 The Eagle of the Ninth Illustrated by C. Walter Hodges. (pp. 255. Oxford University Press: London, 1954.)
- 1977 The Eagle of the Ninth (Harmondsworth : Puffin Books, 1977) (ISBN 0140308903 (pbk))
- 1980 Three Legions (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1980.) (ISBN 0192714503)
- 1985 Three Legions ([Harmondsworth] : Puffin in association with Oxford University Press, 1985, c1980.) (0140319174 (pbk))
- 1986 The Eagle of the Ninth [New ed.] (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1986) (ISBN 0192710370)
- 1994 The Eagle of the Ninth (London : Puffin in associaiton with Oxford University Press, 1994.) (ISBN 0140364579 (pbk))
- 2000 The Eagle of the Ninth (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2000, 1954.) (ISBN 0192750453 (pbk))
- 2004 The Eagle of the Ninth [50th anniversary ed.] (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2004) (ISBN 0192753924 (pbk.))
- 2005 The Eagle of the Ninth (London : Folio Society, 2005)
ABRIDGED VERSIONS
- 1995 Escott, John. The Eagle of the Ninth (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1995.) (0194227448 (pbk))
- 2000 Escott, John. The Eagle of the Ninth [2nd ed.] (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2000.) (0194230333 (pbk.))
The Hitchcock Blonde reads Rosemary Sutcliff
In the summer of 2007 The Hitchcock Blonde was re-reading her ” favourite childhood authors: Rosemary Sutcliff, Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, Ursula LeGuin. Along with Wolf Brother, they share certain themes: the buildungsroman grail quest, the primacy of animals and nature, the value of a sharply sensed moment in a great sweep of time and place. They are properly epic, humbling and exhilerating.
But above all, these tales are rolled out in a cool, deep river of action. There is so little self-indulgence, because kids are the most exacting, most selfish readers. They have no time for a book written to please anyone but themselves, certainly not an author or a critic. Awkwardness is too familiar and raw a feeling at that age to want to grapple with it in books. Pain, yes, ambiguity, yes, but not wanking about with words.
Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth | A Review
Rosemary Sutcliff’s classic children’s novel The Eagle of the Ninth (now a film The Eagle) was given a fantastic review on the historical novels website. Margaret Donsbach wrote:
The Eagle of the Ninth is about a young Roman centurion posted in Roman Britain. Marcus Flavius Aquila is discharged from his legion after being badly injured in his first battle. Years ago, his father was lost when the Ninth Legion mysteriously disappeared in northern Britain. When this novel was first published in 1954, the Ninth Legion’s disappearance in Britain was believed to be fact. More recent evidence shows the legion was actually moved to the Rhine River after serving in Britain. Whether the legion’s disappearance is fact or fiction, though, makes little difference to a reader’s enjoyment of the novel.
Crippled, his military career gone forever, Marcus thinks his useful life is over. Still, he makes friends with a native Briton in spite of unpromising circumstances. He acquires a wolf. He attracts a girl. And he sets off on a dangerous adventure in quest of the golden eagle standard of his father’s legion. Without it, the disbanded legion can never regain its honor and be revived. Worse, in the hands of hostile British tribes the eagle could become the focus of a serious uprising …
- Read the whole review here
- More on the book (and film) on this blog
ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF (1920-92) 