Author:Antonio Santosuosso
At the close of the third century B. C., the ancient world was in awe of Rome's clear political, military, and cultural hegemony. But however secure Rome's power may have seemed from the outside, from within it faced a challenge which was to seriously to threaten its supremacy.
Social turmoil prevailed at the heart of the Roman territories, and in Storming the Heavens, Santosuosso argues that the behaviour of the Roman armies played a central role in this unrest. The troops became the enemies within, pillaging and slaughtering fellow citizens indiscriminately, while remaining loyal to their leaders - for the livelihood and booty they provided - but not the Republic. The new army abandoned its role as depository for upper class values and became an institution of the poor.
Santosuosso also investigates the monopoly of military power in the hands of a few, the connection between the armies and the state's cherished values, and the manipulation, subjugation, and dehumanisation of the subject peoples. In all, he provides a fascinating and dramatic portrait of the Roman army from the time of its greatest supremacy through to the melancholy collapse of Empire in the fifth century A. D.
Jung Chang tells a story and what a colourful tale it is…This is history at its most readable.
—— George Walden , Evening StandardA truly authoritative account of Cixi’s rule. Her story is both important and evocative.
—— Orville Schell , New York TimesFilled with new revelations, it's a gripping and surprising story of an extraordinary woman in power. Using Chinese sources, totally untapped by western books, this reappraises one of the great monstresses of modern history... Jung Chang's revisionism means that this book reveals a new and different woman: ambitious, sometimes murderous, but pragmatic and unique. All of this adds up to make Empress Dowager Cixi a powerful read.
—— Simon Sebag Montefiore , BBC History MagazineIf there is one woman who mattered in the history of modern China, it is the empress dowager Cixi…[Her] conventional image is queried in this detailed and beautifully narrated biography, which at long last restores the empress dowager to her rightful place. Chang’s book relies heavily on the vast holdings in the imperial archives in Beijing... She has a wonderful eye for the telling detail and excels at unravelling palace intrigues and corridor politics.
—— Frank Dikotter , Sunday TimesChang has a proven Midas touch... Empress Dowager, by returning to female experience in the style of Wild Swans yet focusing, like Mao, on a controversial ruler, should appeal to fans of both.
—— Jeffrey Wasserstrom , Financial TimesA captivating cradle-to-grave biography
—— VOGUEIn this vivid biography, as colourful and intricate as the embroidery on a Chinese robe, [Jung Chang] uses new evidence and meticulous research to cast a spotlight on the amazing woman she regards as the mother of modern China…This is a rich, dramatic story of rebellions, battles, plotting, rivalry, foreign invasion, punishment and forbidden love.
—— Bel Mooney , Daily MailAn absorbing read.
—— Josh Neicho , Independent on SundayThis is an important book, drawing attention to a period in China's history that has received little, and usually only negative, attention. Chang writes with verve, energy and evident concern for the country in which her books are proscribed and her family was made to suffer during the Cultural Revolution.
—— BBC History MagazineFascinating… A depiction of the birth of modern China and an intimate portrait of a woman, this is history writing at its best
—— Ben Ridgeon , Haverhill EchoA beautifully narrated biography… Chang has a wonderful eye for the telling detail
—— Frank Dikotter , Sunday TimesGroundbreaking.
—— Jersey Evening PostChang turns the harridan into a heroine.
—— Felipe Fernandez-Armesto , The TimesFilled with new revelations… Gripping and surprising… Powerful.
—— Simon Sebag Montefiore , Blackmore Vale MagazineAbsorbing… Chang has a novelist’s eye for small detail… Chang weaves a suspenseful, anecdote-laden tale.
—— Nadine O’Regan and Anna Carey , Sunday Business PostOne of those rare non-fiction books that reads like a novel without compromising the quality of research – we couldn’t put it down
—— Topping & Co. Bookshop , Bath ChronicleOne of the most important authors of our age, in that she has shown China to the world.
—— Catholic HeraldThis is an electrifying description of the birth of modern China and an intimate portrait of an extraordinary woman
—— Olivier Philip Ziegler , Good Book GuideChinese political history can be a tough nut to crack, but Chang weaves in and out of Cixi’s biography with an ease that is almost as astounding as the events themselves
—— Rosemary Maccabe , Irish TimesA tantalisingly original perspective of the Second World War…Shakespeare shines a moving, intriguing light on the moral quandaries faced by ordinary civilians
—— Robert Collins , Sunday TimesPriscilla is an unusual book, part biography, part family memoir, part detective story, but it reads like a novel and I found it impossible to put down. As an evocation of the period and the moral hypocrisy of the times, it could hardly be bettered (4 stars, Book of the Week)
—— Juliet Barker , Mail on SundayThe novelist and biographer relates the extraordinary wartime derring-doings of his glamorous aunt, whose hidden past he discovered when he stumbled across a box of her papers. Glamorous and morally ambiguous, she married a French aristocrat, escaped from a PoW camp and at the liberation of Paris, was having a relationship with a mysterious man called “Otto”. Woven into her life story is a wealth of detail about life in Occupied France. Obvious appeal for fans of Agent Zigzag, Antony Beevor and Sebastian Faulks but also Suite Française. I was enthralled by it
—— Caroline Sanderson , The BooksellerAssiduous archival research is blended with the flair and craft of an acclaimed novelist
—— Times Literary SupplementA tender account of one woman's unpredictable, secretive and self-scarring wartime experiences... [Shakespeare is] a gifted novelist and biographer
—— Gaby Wood , Australian Financial ReviewAn excellently researched, beautifully written and unflinching memoir
—— Sarah Warwick , UK Press SyndicationGripping
—— Jeremy Lewis , Literary ReviewThe incredible story of the author's aunt, a young English woman in France during the Nazi occupation
—— Lutyens & Rubinstein , Absolutely Notting HillNicholas's research provides Priscilla with a full identity as a young, vulnerable woman whose heroism lay in being true to herself in terrifying times
—— Iain Finlayson , SagaAs both a biographer and novelist, [Shakespeare] is admirably placed to tell such a curious but utterly compelling story
—— Good Book GuideA story as haunting and improbable as any of the fictions of Modiano... Gripping
—— Julian Jackson , StandpointThis is both a family memoir and meticulously researched historical account of the dangerous world of Nazi-occupied France... Shakespeare perfectly captures the perilous and precarious atmosphere, and provides insight into the complexity of women's lives at that time
—— Alice Coke , Absolutely FulhamA captivating travelogue.
—— Helena Gumley-Mason , LadyA delightfully heady and beautifully written potpourri of a book.
—— BBC History MagazineA fascinating look at the debt we owe to Roman achievements
—— Good Book GuideA fascination exploration
—— Mail on SundayHighly readable but profoundly researched, The Trigger represents a bold exception to the deluge of First World War books devoted to mud, blood and poetry
—— Ben Macintyre , The Timesa fascinating original portrait of a man and his country
—— Country and Town House