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Imperial Governor: The Great Novel of Boudicca's Revolt | 
 enlarge | Author: George Shipway
Publisher: Cassell
Category: Book
List Price: $9.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 539460
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 408
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 4.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 0304363243
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780304363247
ASIN: 0304363243
Publication Date: March 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Hardcover ex-library. Readable copy, some cover wear. 100% satisfaction guarantee with every purchase! Part of the proceeds from all sales benefit the hungry and homeless in the St. Louis area as well as Hurricane Katrina victims and neglected animals across the nation.
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Product Description
Here is something to please those Gladiator fans! Filled with vivid battle sequences and excellent historical detail, this novel from an army officer turned writer presents the "memoirs" of the Roman General Suetonius Paulinus. Sent to Wales to capture the gold mines, Paulinus faces the fury of Queen Boudicca's tribes, all united against Nero's corrupt officials. It's a tale packed with fascinating detail of life in Roman Britain and in the Legions in particular.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Still one of the best historical novels EVER. August 4, 2008
I read this superior historical novel when it first appeared (shortly after finishing a graduate history degree), and it's still one of the best I've experienced -- because that's the correct word: "experience." Shipway, himself a product of the old British empire's "imperial" army in India, grasps not only the economic and military necessities Rome faced in Britain during the early reign of Nero (AD 59-62), he shows a deep understanding of the personality of Gaius Suetonius Paulinus (a real person, like all the other major figures in this narrative), the highly-regarded general whom the emperor sent there to see that the government turned a profit. In the first third of the book, we follow Paulinus as he arrives in Britain, investigates his new responsibilities, and makes judgments regarding his subordinates, as well as the native leaders. Paulinus is an efficient commanding officer without tolerance for corruption or high living by his officials or recalcitrance by the locals. He has a real problem in Decianus Catus, the province's procurator, who has independent responsibility for tax-gathering and other financial matters, and who is irredeemably greedy. Paulinus also has to balance the needs and abilities of more than a dozen British tribes whose histories and collective personalities differ greatly, as do their rulers, some of whom have prospered under Roman rule while others will never forget their past independence. The governor must make use of the self-interested loyalty of the former while sufficiently cowing the latter to maintain the peace.
The middle section of the book concerns Paulinus's carefully laid spring campaign to bring the western part of the island (what would become Wales) under Roman control, largely because of the copper and lead mines in the area. There's a good deal of marching back and forth between Gloucester and Chester, and several surgical military thrusts, followed by the invasion and scourging of Anglesey, last haven of the Druids. All of this is precisely and vividly described and the student (or fan) of classical military history will find a great deal to enjoy.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch: Among the tribal leaders Paulinus must manage is Prasutagus, aging king of the Iceni in what is now Norfolk. When he dies, Rome decides to strip his people of the developmental grants made to them years before, and Catus descends on the Iceni with a party of third-rate troops raised under his own authority. The late king's widow, Boudicca, is beaten in the process and her two daughters are raped -- and the southeastern half of Britain is suddenly embroiled in bloody revolt. The governor has to get his scattered legions back from the other end of the province to meet this new threat without giving up his new conquests. His efforts aren't helped by the backpedaling of one of his legion commanders, nor by the questionable loyalties of some of the other tribes, and for awhile it's not at all certain that Rome will be able to hang on to Britain. Of course, Paulinus eventually prevails in a carefully planned head-to-head battle against considerable odds. By the way, no one knows where the climactic battle that destroyed Boudicca's army actual took place; Shipway sets is on a heath a little west of Speen, which is as good a choice as any. The aftermath of the revolt, because of which some two hundred thousand Britons died, and following which two entire tribes were obliterated in revenge, leads to the governor's recall by Rome. And Paulinus never really understands why his appointment has been terminated. The characterizations of both Romans and Britons are first-rate, which is often not the case in a military historical. Shipway doesn't talk down to the reader, who is expected to work a little bit -- and I have no problem with that. His descriptions of the country and of campaign conditions are superlative, and an occasional glance at the maps on the endpapers will keep American readers oriented. And his obvious fascination with the nature of the Roman legion under the early empire will teach you a lot.
 Drier than Robert Graves March 9, 2008
I don't doubt that this book isn't good, expansive, and meticulously researched. However, I found I couldn't bring myself to finish reading it because the writing was drier than "I, Claudius", and simply a bore. Clearly it was not written as a bloody military historical-fiction, but more along the lines of "I, Claudius". I recommend this book for the history, and if you enjoyed reading "I, Claudius", but I must admit I had a more enjoyable reading experience with Alan Gold's "Warrior Queen", which also provided Boudicca's perspective in the story, without villainizing Gaius Paulinus.
superior to the modern author March 6, 2008
Shipway's ability greatly surpasses that of his contemporaries. Only Wallace Breem was as good.
Superb! January 12, 2008
There are very few novels of Roman history that will make you feel as "present" as this one (I could name Wallace Breem's "Eagle in the Snow", "Pompeii" from Robert Harris and the books of Lindsey Davis) . Most attempts fail to create a real sense of history, as they just keep rewriting the same old elementary kind of information obtained from the same sources (You know, Tacitus, Dio, Florus etc). There is really more to military strategy than the "testudo" or knowing which side the centurions wore their gladius. You also have to face that the character development may suffer at the cost of historical details and the inherently predestined plot.
This book is the chronicle of the governorship of Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, who ruled the Province of Britain AD 58-62, during the emperorship of Nero. His assignment was to obtain badly needed precious metals to uphold the imperial budget, as the expensive taste of the ruling elite created quite a "trade deficit". He also had to navigate carefully not to offset the tribal sensitivities of many Brit chieftains, while promoting the slow colonization of the province. Instead, he ended up facing the spiritual resistance of the druids (even the beginning of Christianity), he battled an incompetent procurator and a just as incompetent fleet commander, had to interrupt a succesful campaign (in Anglesey) to face the revolt of the Icenian Queen Boudica and ended up fighting one of the most unequal battles in history, the battle of Watling Street. Here he he won against a force 20 times stronger than his. His character is not really developing during this novel as he comes across from the very beginning as an incredibly efficient, smart and cunning legate, almost too good for Nero to tolerate as a commander of three legions and a fleet. (He ended up receiving in a disgraceful recall, but survived Nero's "mad years".)
This books end up with a seemingly effortless suspension of disbelief: the plot is given, but the surrounding details are described in an amazingly realistic, colorful and rich detail: every operating military unit, every imperial dispatch, every governorial action comes across as real as you would see them being a senior tribune serving Paulinus. You learn so many details of the works of an imperial legate in such an amazingly informative way that you never ever feel "out of time". Paradoxically this is exactly what makes a historical novel truly excellent. It is a book that only deserves 5 stars.
Reducing the Province to Order April 29, 2007
Geo. Shipway's "Imperial Governor" is without question one of the finest historical novels I've ever read, and it's very much on my personal Top Ten List of favourite novels. I find it amazing and shameful that all of Shipway's historical works aren't in print. His "Free Lance" and "Knight in Anarchy" deserve to be recovered from obscurity. It's worth noting that Shipway himself was old British India Army. When his narrator in "Imperial Governor" talks about the difficulties of governing hill tribes or supplying outlying garrisons-- Shipway had first-hand experience at doing the same thing.
Shipway presents the campaign to reduce Roman Britain to order after Boudicca's revolt through the eyes of a highly-ambitious professional soldier of the early-Imperial senatorial class, and the writing is cold, spare, and with touches of chill irony. There are no concessions to modern, Christianized morality. His Suetonius Paulinus is a thorough professional who has a job to do and is willing to sacrifice-- but never needlessly --men and ships and cities to restore Roman order. Shipway manages to discuss the technical details of Roman warfare and army administration without losing the reader's interest-- his account of the Anglesey crossing and battle is a delight. The story is gripping and powerful, the end suitably melancholy.
This is very much a book I recommend to any friends or students who want to read about Rome and Roman warfare, and it gets a full five stars from me here. Now if only some publisher will reprint the rest of Shipway's novels...
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