In this, the sequel to his internationally acclaimed and best-selling historical novel HANNIBAL, Ross Leckie tells the epic story of Scipio Africanus. Spanning six decades and three continents, SCIPIO is a riveting fictional memoir that charts the life of one of the great Roman leaders. Scipio's defeat of Hannibal at the battle of Zama was a pivotal victory which paved the way for Roman expansion. His subsequent destruction of Antiochus at Magnesia and Philip V at Cynoscephalae helped to establish Rome's dominance of the world as they then knew it. Despite all this Scipio remained a flawed character; a man whose blindness to his own weaknesses ultimately brought about his own downfall. Leckie brilliantly evokes the period in this superb historical novel. The result is a gripping and moving tragedy, an account of one man's successes and failings, filtered through the eyes of his compassionate, wise and loyal friend.
Since reading Classics at Oxford, Ross Leckie has worked variously as a farm labourer, journalist, roughneck, teacher and copywriter.
Title: Scipio: A Novel
Author: Leckie, Ross
ISBN: 9780349112381
Binding:
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Publication Date: 1999-07-01
Number of Pages: 352
Weight: 0.2813 kg
The character of Scipio is central, admirably done, full of interest. Yet this is also a novel of action ... and Leckie's narrative of action is masterly ... All the battle scenes are terrific. So, indeed, is the novel, even better than HANNIBAL Allan Massie Leckie's Rome is certainly alive and kicking ... a fine achievement, a thoughtful and stylish piece of historical fiction DAILY TELEGRAPH By turns lucid, enlightening and thrilling, this is the historical novel at its best THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY Leckie forges a convincingly archaic prose style that guides us through the intricacies of Roman warfare... this is a fully rounded evocation of a legendary figure. THE TIMES