Books by Manda Scott
Manda Scott is an award-winning novelist, whose books include the bestselling Boudica:Dreaming series, and the co-creator of the weekly hit podcast Accidental Gods.
“Manda Scott wrote several novels about Boudica, following her life story. We tend to over-rationalise the events of the distant past. Manda Scott very much thinks about Boudica as somebody who’s deeply influenced by her beliefs in the spirits of the landscape. What I particularly liked about Manda Scott’s novels is the way she brings these mythical, spiritual things to the story. I think it’s very difficult for archaeologists to understand how Iron Age people saw the world…as a work of archaeology or history, we can’t interpret those things. They’re too complex and too obscure to us. But I think art is a way of looking at issues like that. Writing a novel is a way of thinking about issues that we can’t understand from a historical point of view.” Read more...
Richard Hingley, Classicist
Interviews with Manda Scott
The Best Eco Thrillers, recommended by Manda Scott
‘Eco thrillers’ are books that combine suspenseful plotting with environmental themes. Here, the bestselling novelist and chart-topping podcaster Manda Scott selects five thrilling novels that explore the climate emergency and other ecological crises through fiction, with an emphasis on books that envisage a route forward.
Interviews where books by Manda Scott were recommended
Historical Fiction Recommended by Historians
When they’re done well, historical novels are a really exciting way to learn about history, because they combine the emotional involvement of fiction with the narrative of events that took place and details of how life was lived in the past. For that reason, we’re always excited when a historian chooses a work of historical fiction as one of their expert recommendations.
The best books on Boudica, recommended by Richard Hingley
Boudica was an Iron Age queen who led her people into rebellion against Roman rule in the province of Britannia. She was defeated, but only after she had burned several towns, including London, to the ground. Here Richard Hingley, Professor of Archaeology at Durham University, explains how to sift the truth from the myth, and why Boudica has remained an enduring source of fascination down the centuries.
