ISBN: 0-19-422744-8
Godina izdanja: 1997.
Jezik: Engleski
Autor: Strani

Knjiga je potpuno nova. Na prednjoj korici sa unutrašnje strane mala beleška o datumu kupovine. Bez podvlačenja, fleka.

Publisher: Oxford Bookworms Oxford University Press 1995. broj strana 76, meki povez

The Eagle of the Ninth is a historical adventure novel for children written by Rosemary Sutcliff and published in 1954. The story is set in Roman Britain in the 2nd century AD, after the building of Hadrian`s Wall.
Discharged because of a battle wound, a young Roman officer Marcus Flavius Aquila tries to discover the truth about the disappearance of his father`s legion in northern Britain. Disguised as a Greek oculist and travelling beyond Hadrian`s Wall with his freed ex-slave, Esca, Marcus finds that a demoralized and mutinous Ninth Legion was annihilated by a great rising of the northern tribes. In part, this disgrace was redeemed through a heroic last stand by a small remnant (including Marcus`s father) around the legion`s eagle standard. Marcus`s hope of seeing the lost legion re-established is dashed, but he is able to bring back the gilded bronze eagle so that it can no longer serve as a symbol of Roman defeat – and thus will no longer be a danger to the frontier`s security.

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I first read these as a child and was spellbound by the deft characterisation and bittersweet plotting. Sutcliff is interested in history and is unapologetic in her embrace of reality rather than myth to sweeten it for children. As such, historical and semi-mythical characters are believable and the protagonists face a series of difficult decisions as they negotiate their way through 3 key stages in Romano-British history. There may be some romanticism here, but like Garner, Sutcliff is a novelist who taught me that I didn`t mind finishing a book in tears. The Eagle of the Ninth (set at the peak of the Roman period, albeit mostly set outside the Empire north of the Wall) and the Lantern Bearers (the withdrawal of the Army and the first Germanic iinvasions) are stronger than the Silver Lantern (about a failed Romano-British rebellion), but they all bear up well - even if our views on the history/archaeology of the period have changed substantially since the novels were written.

It was possible to read thRough the pronunciation of characters` names and names of land managed not to have been understood easily.
As for the talk, development is very interesting. It gets excited when reading. I recommends it.