The Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain

I wanted a book with a easily understood story of the history of Roman Britain for my own personal knowledge. I found it in this book. Highly recommend.

Peter Salway's book offers a good insight into the evolution of Roman Britain from Julius Caesar's first expeditions in 55 and 54 BC to the fall of the Roman Empire c. 475 A.D. Rather easy to read, its a book that can be enjoyed by historians and casual readers. Peter Salway begins his book with background information on pre-Celtic England and the Celtic culture and then proceeds to discuss Romes first contacts with the Island under Julius Caesar. As the book notes, Julius Caesar's British expeditions were failures in terms of conquests but successful as exploratory ones. The book then glosses over the period between Caesar and Claudius to discuss Britain's full invasion under Claudius. The book discusses the effects of the invasion on the Celtic cultures and how they eventually incorporated many Roman customs into their own lives. The book also covers trade and economics in the region. This is altogether a great book that covers the subject quite well. It's easy to read by anyone whether they have an advanced understanding of the subject or not.

I should preface this by saying that I am not a person who usually reads histories for fun, but this book is quite impressive. Salway manages to present a massive amount of detail without overwhelming the reader. At no point is the narrative stuffy or dull, and it is frequently amusing and very interesting. I would have prefered at least some photos or drawings (there are none), but the facts and commentary are colorful enough to keep you interested. Based on other books I've read on this period, and a course on the topic, Salway's information seems quite accurate. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Roman history and culture, Celtic history (what there is of it), and the relationships between Britain and the rest of the ancient world. Most historians seem wed to the dry listing of dates and battles, but Salway presents enough cultural information to keep things interesting enough for laymen (or even anthropologists...). Its a bit long - several hundred pages, but I highly recommend this book.

Every now and then an historical book comes along that changes the way one looks at history. Peter Salway's Roman Britain does just that. He gets past a lot of the speculation people have about historical "forces" and looks at a portion of history that is skipped over as irrelevant in terms of the choices people made and the consequences of those choices. He shows Roman Britain to be one of the many "pivotal" parts of British history and an interesting one as well.