©Ward Hutchinson
Books by Robert Graves
Robert Graves (1895-1985) was a British poet, translator and historical novelist. His memoir, Goodbye to All That, is highly readable and especially memorable for his description of life in the trenches during World War I, where he served as an officer in the British Army. His historical novels are amongst the best ever written, combining knowledge of history and the primary sources (some of which he translated into English) with beautiful writing and a sense of humour.
“I picked up the book in a bookstore one day. From the opening lines, I was completely hooked. It’s very funny in that way of English writers of a certain generation (to the extent that, inexcusably perhaps, I tend to get the author confused with Roald Dahl). I once saw an interview with Robert Graves and apparently he just wrote I, Claudius to make a bit of money, he didn’t take it seriously at all. But he was a great classical scholar and so the book feels real. It’s written in the first person, pretending to be an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, and although I know, deep down, it’s only Robert Graves pretending to be Claudius, I came away feeling I really knew Clau-Clau.” Read more...
Sophie Roell, Journalist
Claudius the God: And His Wife Messalina
by Robert Graves
The sequel to I, Claudius, about Claudius's period as emperor. It includes the invasion of Britain. If you loved I, Claudius you'll want to read it, but it's less of a feel-good book, as you know he's on his way down rather than up.
“Graves wrote Goodbye to All That as a war memoir, but he was also very conscious of the opportunity presented, and deliberately set out to write a bestseller about the war…I think Graves felt a certain kind of liberty to write about the war as he wanted, as he, after all, was haunted every night by memories of it. He famously could not stand to be in the presence of cut lumber because it reminded him of the dugouts in the war…and if a car backfired he would throw himself to the ground. I think of all the memoirs it is the most accessible, the best written and in many ways the most poignant of the memoirs that came from soldiers.” Read more...
The best books on Legacies of World War One
Wade Davis, Anthropologist
Count Belisarius
by Robert Graves
Count Belisarius is Robert Graves's novel about Belisarius, the general commanding the armies of the eastern Roman emperor, Justinian. It's a wonderful imagining of what Constantinople was like in the sixth century, with Theodora and Justinian knocking around, and the lively and scandalous events surrounding them. Belisarius, meanwhile, is ceaselessly running around the Empire trying to sort things out here, there and everywhere. It's a great book.
Wife to Mr. Milton
by Robert Graves
Wife to Mr. Milton is Robert Graves's imagining of the life of Mary Powell, John Milton's first wife. She has no interest in him whatsoever but is forced to marry him to pay off a debt of her father's, whom she adores. It's vintage Robert Graves, a main character you end up liking immensely, with a backdrop of events that leaves you much better informed about the history because you feel you've lived through it. In this case, the setting is Oxford (and some London) during the English civil war. There's even a glossary of 17th-century words at the back, so you know a 'blind buzzard' is a wilfully ignorant person and a 'Turk's cap' a tulip.
“As far as I know, every single myth and every single variation, every single little nugget of Greek myth that isn’t necessarily even complete, is in there. This is my Greek myth bible. Robert Graves was the most amazing ancient history scholar and a marvellous writer as well…They’re not meant to be flowery or literary. They cram in absolutely everything. He has the most massive footnotes as well and references to where he found the actual myths: usually Hyginus or Diodorus Siculus or somebody that before I read Graves I’d never even heard of. In fact I now have my own copies of Apollodorus and Diodorus Siculus and Hyginus. The footnotes are just amazing. I learned so many different nuggets there, it’s almost worth reading just for them…You can’t say you really know about Greek myths until you have read it. But I wouldn’t say sit down and think you’re going to do it all in one go. Take it in chunks.” Read more...
The best books on Greek Myths and Mythology
Lucy Coats, Children's Author
“Suetonius’s work is a collection of biographies of the first 12 Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar through to Domitian. And it really had a crucial sense of shaping our understanding of Imperial Rome as a place of vice and savagery and sexual depravity and violent, brutal, bawdy splendour…the shenanigans of Caligula, who indulged in incest, forced prostitution…or Nero, who actually went one better than Caligula by having his mother killed and is said to have burnt down Rome, although he probably didn’t.” Read more...
The best books on Ancient Rome
Tom Holland, Classicist
Interviews where books by Robert Graves were recommended
The best books on Ancient Rome, recommended by Tom Holland
How accurate is what we think we know about the Romans? Tom Holland, the author of Rubicon, tells us about the exercise of power, the staging of ceremony and the influence of religion in ancient Rome. If you’ve enjoyed these recommendations you might be interested in our interview on the best books on Ancient Greece.
Books by Robert Graves, recommended by Sophie Roell
If you haven't read any historical fiction by Robert Graves (1895-1985) yet, you're in for a treat, says Five Books editor Sophie Roell. She introduces the books by Robert Graves recommended on Five Books, from his novels set in ancient Rome and England during the civil wars to his memoir of World War I and retellings of the Greek myths.
The best books on Greek Myths and Mythology, recommended by Lucy Coats
Lucy Coats, author of one of the best Greek myth books for children, recommends her own favourites. There’s one for children, one for teenagers, one for scholars, one to read out loud and one that’s very definitely adult in content…
The best books on Legacies of World War One, recommended by Wade Davis
The explorer and author of Into the Silence, Wade Davis, tells us that the consequences of the Great War were much more than merely political. He says the war had a noticeable impact on exploration, arts and literature, and modernity itself.
Classic Historical Fiction Set in Ancient Rome
Ever since the ruins of an ancient civilization started to be discovered around Italy, ancient Rome has captured the imagination and inspired writers. Here we’ve collected together all the novels about ancient Rome and its empire that have been recommended on Five Books, from an 18th-century bestseller to the last novel by one of the great fantasy authors of our time.
Favourite Books, recommended by Sophie Roell
It goes without saying that I have more than five favourite books and some important ones are missing from this page (even though I’ve cheated and included six). I suppose the nonfiction ones are books that opened doors for me in some way or enabled me to see the world more clearly, including professionally. The fiction ones are ones I was completely overexcited about when I read them.
