For award-winning, internationally-acclaimed author Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-92). By Anthony Lawton: godson, cousin & literary executor. Rosemary Sutcliff wrote historical fiction, children's literature and books, films, TV & radio, including The Eagle of the Ninth, Sword at Sunset, Song for a Dark Queen, The Mark of the Horse Lord, The Silver Branch, The Lantern Bearers, Dawn Wind, Blue Remembered Hills.
Reading Sutcliff’s famous historical novel The Eagle of the Ninth helped enthuse University of Reading lecturer Matthew Nicholls as a child about Roman history. His article in The Guardian Notes and Queries led me to ask what it was about the famous novel which he found so ‘wonderful’
… I can remember reading The Eagle of the Ninth when I was about 7 or 8; at that age I was starting Latin at School and showing an interest in Romans, so my parents took me off to Wall near Lichfield where we lived and must have bought me the book too. It made a great impression, Read More »
Matthew Nicholls, lecturer in classics and senior tutor at the University of Reading said today in the Guardian that Rosemary Sutcliff’s “wonderful” book The Eagle of the Ninth helped turn him on to Roman history. Read More »
Eminent historical novelist and children’s writer Rosemary Sutcliff was praised for the richness of her language. Not for her the dead hand of the language of human resources, goals and quality improvement monitoring officers. So a description of a conference workshop which Google has alerted me to would not have commended itself to her. Read More »
Today, courtesy of a Google Alert, I came across an old discussion thread, ‘Is there a war between Science Fiction and Historical Fiction’ , where a physicist who reads Rosemary Sutcliff recommends several of Rosemary’s books. Although he did spell her name wrong – with an E, a regular moan of this blog, Stephen Harker wrote:
Rosemary Sutcliffe’s (sic) Sword at Sunset and Rider on the White Horse are well worth reading. A lot of her historical fiction was pitched towards children and adolescents. However, I have found them worth re-reading as an adult, for example: The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch and The Lantern Bearers which have some connection with Sword at Sunset.
ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF (1920-92) 