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    Hadrian's Wall
    Hadrian's Wall
    Hadrian's Wall
    Audiobook3 hours

    Hadrian's Wall

    Written by Adrian Goldsworthy

    Narrated by Derek Perkins

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Stretching eighty miles from coast to coast across northern England, Hadrian's Wall is the largest Roman artifact known today. It is commonly viewed as a defiant barrier, the end of the empire, a place where civilization stopped and barbarism began. In fact, the massive structure remains shrouded in mystery. Was the wall intended to keep out the Picts, who inhabited the North? Or was it merely a symbol of Roman power and wealth? What was life like for soldiers stationed along its expanse? How was the extraordinary structure built-with what technology, skills, and materials?

    In Hadrian's Wall, Adrian Goldsworthy embarks on a historical and archeological investigation, sifting fact from legend while simultaneously situating the wall in the wider scene of Roman Britain. The result is a concise and enthralling history of a great architectural marvel of the ancient world.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 10, 2018
    ISBN9781977373892
    Hadrian's Wall
    Author

    Adrian Goldsworthy

    Adrian Goldsworthy's doctoral thesis formed the basis for his first book, The Roman Army at War 100 BC–AD 200 (OUP, 1996), and his research has focused on aspects of warfare in the Graeco-Roman world. He is the bestselling author of many ancient world titles, including both military history and historical novels. He also consults on historical documentaries for the History Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC. Adrian Goldsworthy studied at Oxford, where his doctoral thesis examined the Roman army. He went on to become an acclaimed historian of Ancient Rome. He is the author of numerous works of non-fiction, including Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors, Caesar, The Fall of the West, Pax Romana and Hadrian's Wall.

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    Reviews for Hadrian's Wall

    3.5/5

    81 ratings12 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Lots of information lacking passion. About 30 years ago I, my wife and three children spent two days visiting the wall. It was one of many adventures we had in the UK. It was one of the most exciting and refreshing things we did. This book imparts much good information about the wall but tells the tale without passion. I looked further into the book and learned that although maps and photos accompany the text, with the exception of the cover, all are in black and white. The author is very knowledgeable but tells the tale in a passionless style. The book would probably make a good companion for someone who will pay the wall a visit for a few days.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Great book on an extremely interesting place. I was able to visit Hadrians wall a few years ago and this was a great way to learn more about the amazing history behind this structure.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Great brief story of the Romans and Hadrians Wall. With a listen if at all interested in Roman rule in Britain. Nice review of what to visit in last chapter.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this quick read. Informative and descriptive of The wall. I enjoyed it. I recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      Very interesting and concise. Wish I had read it before going there! Provides a very good account of the building and maintenance of the wall and what was happening within the Roman Empire. Also, loved the audio version.
    • 3/5
      It was interesting hearing about the Roman Army in an area I don’t normally associate with it and it was also interesting hearing about an earlier “barbaric” Britain than was is normal in history books.
    • 3/5
      While there is nothing particularly wrong with this book, once one has finished with it one wishes that there was more about the actual wall; this is mostly a distillation of Goldsworthy's admittedly great knowledge of the Roman army in Britain.
    • 3/5
      While I am a big fan of Adrian Goldsworthy, this book disappointed me.The book was both brief, and at times lacked Goldsworthy's normally interesting and informative writing style. Particularly in the early sections, I found his descriptions somewhat confusing. Inexplicably, the book was published in an undersized format. Accordingly, the text, particularly when accompanying photographs, can be difficult to read. Further, many of black-and-white photos do not clearly illustrate their subject.Overall, a far cry the author's typically outstanding standing works.
    • 3/5
      Hadrian's Wall and the associated forts are the largest Roman ruins visible in the world. It is 80 miles long and reaches from the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea across hills and dales to the banks of the Tyne on the North Sea and marked the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. It wasn't the only wall built to be the northernmost frontier, that honour goes to the Antonine Wall. This was started in 142AD and abandoned around 20 years later when legions were moved back to the more substantial Hadrian's Wall. Long thought to be a barrier keeping out the Picts and Ancient Britons that lived north of this wall, it turns out to have a much deeper and complicated history.

      Adrian Goldsworthy brings us up right up to on the latest hypothesis' and theories of Hadrian's Wall, considering how it functioned, how it was built and whether it served a military function or it was just a demonstration of power to the marauding tribes. By drawing on the recent archaeological discoveries, in particular, the details gleaned from the tablets discovered at Vindolanda, he pieces together a vivid picture of how life would be there for a soldier on the furthest outpost from Rome. It is a beautifully produced book, full of maps, photos and images of what we know of life in the UK 2000 years ago; definitely a book for any lover of Roman history.
    • 3/5
      This was fairly interesting. Well researched. #hadrians wall
    • 3/5
      An adequate introduction to a fascinating historical monument in Britain.
    • 3/5
      Read the first couple chapters, and all you can think is, "Holy crap, this is Game of Thrones!" And, indeed, a internet search reveals that George R. R. Martin did base his mammoth ice wall of the north on Hadrian's Wall.Built to keep northern raiders out of the Roman provinces to the south and perhaps regulate trade, Hadrian's Wall stretched over 70 miles, from coast to coast. It was a massive undertaking whose construction and maintenance lasted for several centuries at the tail end of the Western Roman Empire. Though many of its stones were later removed and used in other construction projects, large chunks still remain today.Unfortunately, this book squanders a lot of the inherent wonder through dry academic history prose and a fixation on picayune details like how many pairs of shoes were owned by the soldiers who manned the wall. The author also includes constant disclaimers about the gaps in knowledge that, while necessary, are frustrating and boring.A historian and not an archaeologist, the author spends too little time on the actual mechanics of construction and examination of the remnants still visible today. Unlike the vibrant color cover, the interior photographs and illustrations are presented in a washed-out to completely-muddled gray, making it hard to appreciate the sheer grandeur of the ancient piles of rocks.Despite the short length of the book, it took me a while to slog through it. I'm giving it three-stars solely on the subject matter.