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The
First Emperor
by
Peter Kennedy (first published
in Wivenhoe News Winter edition 2006)
There was a proper sense of occasion as people
gathered in the Wivenhoe Bookshop on the evening of Friday 28th
October 2006 to hear Anthony Everitt speak on the launch of The
First Emperor, Caesar
Augustus and the Triumph of Rome.
This, his latest book, is a dynamic and
meticulously researched biography of the Emperor Augustus.
The author's brief exposition to his audience was a shining
example of how to impart a message spliced with wit and humour, and
he pointed out that "The Romans knew how to keep an empire.
The British learnt more from the Romans about how to do that
than the Americans ever did."
Anthony Everitt, a Wivenhoe resident for some
fifteen years, has an impressive background in literature and the
arts. Former
Secretary-General of the Arts Council of Great Britain, he is a
Visiting Professor in performing and visual arts at Nottingham Trent
University, a Companion of Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts
and an Honorary Fellow of Dartington College of the Arts. |
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 He
is also the author of Cicero: a
Turbulent Life, the best-selling biography of the Roman statesmen and
orator.
His current book, The
First Emperor, is beautifully produced and printed, with notes and
sources and a highly detailed index.
Moreover it is a darn good read.
Professor Everitt's next project is a life of the Emperor Hadrian,
which will complete a trilogy of Cicero, Augustus and Hadrian, and of the
story of the transformation of the Roman Republic into a highly successful
Roman Empire.
The evening's event was coupled with a celebration of
the Wivenhoe Bookshop's thirtieth anniversary [which had fallen on 9
October] and birthday cards and congratulation cards were prominent in the
window and on the shelves. Proprietor
Ginny Waters, with the help of a young lady customer, blew out the candles
on the sumptuous birthday cake to a general round of applause.
As Anthony Everitt commented, the Bookshop is one of the best
things in Wivenhoe.
| The First
Emperor, published by John
Murray at £25, is available at Wivenhoe Bookshop.
- Hardcover: 432 pages
- Publisher: John Murray (5 Oct 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0719554942
- ISBN-13: 978-0719554940
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