{"title":"Books by Robert Graves","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780140455168","title":"The Twelve Caesars","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn essential primary source on Roman history and a fascinating achievement of scholarship covering a critical period in the Empire\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, the scholar Suetonius had access to the imperial archives and used them (along with eyewitness accounts) to produce one of the most colourful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero and the recovery that came with his successors. A masterpiece of observation, anecdote and detailed physical description, \u003ci\u003eThe Twelve Caesars\u003c\/i\u003e presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn—and all too human—individuals.   \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJames B. Rives has sensitively updated Robert Graves's now classic translation, reinstating Latin terms and updating vocabulary while retaining the liveliness of the original. This edition contains a new chronology, further reading, glossaries, maps, notes and an introduction discussing Suetonius' life and works. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201421410482,"sku":"9780140455168","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780140455168_27896567-b898-4159-adf5-a467b184de26.jpg?v=1786011083"},{"product_id":"9780141184593","title":"Modern Classics Goodbye To All That","description":"An autobiographical work that describes firsthand the great tectonic shifts in English society following the First World War, Robert Graves's \u003ci\u003eGoodbye to All That\u003c\/i\u003e is a matchless evocation of the Great War's haunting legacy, published in Penguin Modern Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1929 Robert Graves went to live abroad permanently, vowing 'never to make England my home again'. This is his superb account of his life up until that 'bitter leave-taking': from his childhood and desperately unhappy school days at Charterhouse, to his time serving as a young officer in the First World War that was to haunt him throughout his life. It also contains memorable encounters with fellow writers and poets, including Siegfried Sassoon and Thomas Hardy, and covers his increasingly unhappy marriage to Nancy Nicholson. \u003ci\u003eGoodbye to All That\u003c\/i\u003e, with its vivid, harrowing descriptions of the Western Front, is a classic war document, and also has immense value as one of the most candid self-portraits of an artist ever written.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRobert Ranke Graves (1895-1985) was a British poet, novelist, and critic. He is best known for the historical novel \u003ci\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/i\u003e and the critical study of myth and poetry \u003ci\u003eThe White Goddess\u003c\/i\u003e. His autobiography, \u003ci\u003eGoodbye to All That\u003c\/i\u003e, was published in 1929, quickly establishing itself as a modern classic. Graves also translated Apuleius, Lucan and Suetonius for the Penguin Classics, and compiled the first modern dictionary of Greek Mythology, \u003ci\u003eThe Greek Myths\u003c\/i\u003e. His translation of \u003ci\u003eThe Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám\u003c\/i\u003e (with Omar Ali-Shah) is also published in Penguin Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you enjoyed \u003ci\u003eGoodbye to All That\u003c\/i\u003e, you might like Ford Madox Ford's \u003ci\u003eParade's End\u003c\/i\u003e, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'His wonderful autobiography'\u003cbr\u003eJeremy Paxman, \u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201444970674,"sku":"9780141184593","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141184593.jpg?v=1786011335"},{"product_id":"9780141188591","title":"I, Claudius","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Still an acknowledged masterpiece and a model for historical fiction  ... sympathetic and intensely involving: a great feat of imagination' Hilary Mantel \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBringing to life the intrigue of ancient Rome, Robert Graves's \u003ci\u003eI, Claudius \u003c\/i\u003eis one of the most celebrated, gripping historical novels ever written\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDespised for his weakness and regarded by his family as little more than a stammering fool, the nobleman Claudius quietly survives the bloody purges and mounting cruelty of the imperial Roman dynasties. In \u003ci\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/i\u003e he watches from the sidelines to record the reigns of its emperors: from the wise Augustus and his villainous wife Livia to the sadistic Tiberius and the insane excesses of Caligula. Written in the form of Claudius' autobiography, this is the first part of Robert Graves's brilliant account of the madness and debauchery of ancient Rome.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith an introduction by Barry Unsworth\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'An imaginative and hugely readable account of the early decades of the Roman Empire ... racy, inventive, often comic'\u003ci\u003e Daily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201480163506,"sku":"9780141188591","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141188591.jpg?v=1786011529"},{"product_id":"9780241982358","title":"The Greek Myths","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe definitive and comprehensive edition of Robert Graves's classic retelling of the Greek myths\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e'Icarus disobeyed his father's instructions and began soaring towards the sun, rejoiced by the lift of his great sweeping wings. Presently, when Daedalus looked over his shoulder, he could no longer see Icarus; but scattered feathers floated on the waves below...'\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese are the greatest stories ever told - the labours of Hercules, the voyage of the Argonauts, Theseus and the minotaur, Midas and his golden touch, the Trojan War and Odysseus's journey home - brought together into one epic and unforgettable story. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIdeal for the first time reader, it can be read as a single page-turning narrative, while full commentaries as well as a comprehensive index of names make it equally valuable for anyone seeking an authoritative and detailed account of the spectacular stories that make up the bedrock of Western literature.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Greek Myths \u003c\/i\u003eis a classic among classics, a treasure trove of extraordinary tales and a masterful work of literature in its own right.\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201670348978,"sku":"9780241982358","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241982358_8ef5d331-fd60-435b-b1f7-91bd9c3ecfc1.jpg?v=1786012900"},{"product_id":"9780571174256","title":"The White Goddess","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis labyrinthine and extraordinary book, first published more than fifty years ago, was the outcome of Graves's vast reading and curious research into strange territories of folklore, mythology, religion and magic. Erudite and impassioned, it is a scholar-poet's quest for the meaning of European myths, a polemic about the relations between man and woman, and also an intensely personal document in which Graves explored the sources of his own inspiration and, as he believed, all true poetry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis new edition has been prepared by Grevel Lindop, who has written an illuminating introduction. The text of the book incorporates all Graves's final revisions, as well as his replies to two of the original reviewers, and a long essay in which he describes the months of inspiration in which \u003cb\u003eThe White Goddess\u003c\/b\u003e was written.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201803485362,"sku":"9780571174256","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780571174256.jpg?v=1786013403"},{"product_id":"9781644213179","title":"Sergeant Lamb's America","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe renowned poet, classicist, and novelist Robert Graves “recounts, in faithful and nicely atmospheric detail” the story of a British soldier during the American Revolution (\u003ci\u003eThe Philadelphia Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFeaturing a new introduction by Madison Smartt Bell.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA historical novel of the early years of the American Revolution based on the adventures of Sergeant Roger Lamb, a Dublin man, in the service of His Majesty’s Army. It begins with Lamb’s early days in Dublin and ends with his arrival in Boston as a member of the regiment taken prisoner after Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first in a two-book series, \u003ci\u003eSergeant Lamb's America\u003c\/i\u003e is based on historical research, describing events and figures from the British perspective during the American War of Independence. Sergeant Lamb is engaging, personable, and exudes basic decency of character as he recounts the British defeat and the capture of his unit at the Battle of Saratoga in a voice that’s both funny, insightful, and wise.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It is a historical novel for which one has a very real respect.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43206203506866,"sku":"9781644213179","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781644213179_b646718d-f831-48b8-a079-8ef6d593373e.jpg?v=1786024290"},{"product_id":"9781644213186","title":"Proceed, Sergeant Lamb","description":"\u003cb\u003eRobert Graves continues the fictionalized account of the adventures of Sergeant Roger Lamb, an Irish soldier who fought for the British during the American Revolutionary War. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFeaturing a new introduction by Madison Smartt Bell.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSergeant Roger Lamb is in a prison camp near Boston with 3,000 other soldiers in General Johnny Burgoyne's army who surrendered at the Battle of Saratoga. Lamb is a non-commissioned officer in the British Army who served in America during the American War of Independence. But the American Congress refuses to ratify a repatriation agreement and Lamb plans an escape. He manages to make his way through General Washington's lines and rejoins Cornwallis in the Carolinas, fighting with him until Yorktown. Then he makes another remarkable escape to rejoin the British in New York.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe second in a two-book series, this account is inspired by the real-life Sergeant Lamb’s personal memoirs. Renowned poet, classicist, and novelist Robert Graves traces the sergeant’s harrowing time in military service, providing a compelling, only barely fictionalized eyewitness account of a crucial point in American history.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43230238605490,"sku":"9781644213186","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781644213186_67832ba3-6a79-4e7d-9741-26640496c8c4.jpg?v=1786024290"},{"product_id":"9780141188607","title":"Claudius the God","description":"\u003cp\u003eContinuing the saga begun in \u003ci\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/i\u003e, Robert Graves's \u003ci\u003eClaudius the God\u003c\/i\u003e is a compelling fictional autobiography of the Roman emperor, published with an introduction by Barry Unsworth in Penguin Modern Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eClaudius has survived the murderous intrigues of his predecessors to become, reluctantly, Emperor of Rome. Here he recounts his surprisingly successful reign: how he cultivates the loyalty of the army and the common people to repair the damage caused by Caligula; his relations with the Jewish King Herod Agrippa; and his invasion of Britain. But the growing paranoia of absolute power and the infidelity of his promiscuous young wife Messalina mean that his good fortune will not last forever. In this second part of Robert Graves's fictionalized autobiography, Claudius - wry, rueful, always inquisitive - brings to life some of the most scandalous and violent times in history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you enjoyed \u003ci\u003eClaudius the God\u003c\/i\u003e, you might like Marguerite Yourcenar's \u003ci\u003eMemoirs of Hadrian,\u003c\/i\u003e also available in Penguin Modern Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003ci\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eClaudius the God\u003c\/i\u003e are an imaginative and hugely readable account of the early decades of the Roman Empire ... racy, inventive, often comic'\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'One of the really remarkable books of our day, a novel of learning and imagination, fortunately conceived and brilliantly executed' \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Graves made Roman history funny and familiar'\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43399556464818,"sku":"9780141188607","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141188607_57fe982d-e55d-4987-958b-48a45e78094e.jpg?v=1786011530"},{"product_id":"9780143106715","title":"The Greek Myths","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe gold standard in Greek mythology, in a dazzling Graphic Deluxe Edition \u003cb\u003efeaturing flaps, deckled edges, and specially commissioned cover art by Ross Macdonald and\u003c\/b\u003e a new introduction by the \u003cb\u003emultimillion-copy\u003c\/b\u003e bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the creation of the world out of Chaos and the birth of the Olympians to the Trojan War and Odysseus's return, Robert Graves's superb retelling of the Greek myths has long been acclaimed as the definitive edition. Graves draws on sources scattered throughout ancient literature, using a novelist's skill to weave a crisp, coherent narrative of each myth and providing commentaries with cross-references, interpretations, and explanations based on solid scholarship. The result is a classic volume of many of the greatest stories ever told—stories of the gods, heroes, and extraordinary events that inspired Homer, the Greek tragedians, and so much of subsequent European literature.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43400087339186,"sku":"9780143106715","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780143106715_9ed5c387-e0cc-426a-b5c7-e24b906354ba.jpg?v=1786011588"},{"product_id":"9781644213346","title":"The Story of Marie Powell, Wife to John Milton","description":"\u003cb\u003eWith impressive literary power, the acclaimed historical novelist and critic Robert Graves tells the story of the tragic and eventful life of Marie Powell, who, at the age of sixteen, was pushed into marrying the man who was England’s greatest epic poet—and knew it—John Milton.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A thumping good read.” —E.M. Forster\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the age of sixteen, Mary Powell marries poet John Milton. Their marriage, which plays out during the English Civil War, is not one of love, but rather a practical arrangement that proves to be a devastating mismatch of temperaments and convictions. Her Royalist sympathies and his ardent parliamentarianism, her independence, and his austere way of life, 1640s England is a hotbed of clashing ideologies and so too is this marriage. The story, which unfolds in Marie’s sensitive and searching journals, is a scathing portrait of one of England’s most famous poets, a story of literary ambition and masculine egoism, and, like all of Graves’ historical novels, a monumental achievement of closely watched history. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne the one hand, this is a tender story of the romance Marie Powell found outside the walls of her tyrannical husband’s house. On the other it is also a brilliant account of one of the most breathtaking epochs in English history, when that kingdom was ravaged by a bloody civil war and the tides of fortune swayed from one to the other side of the opposing camps—the King against his parliament, tyranny against freedom—culminating in the dramatic execution of Charles I, and the establishment of a republic.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44581734875314,"sku":"9781644213346","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781644213346.jpg?v=1786024295"},{"product_id":"9780141182063","title":"The Complete Poems","description":"Graves described poetry as his ruling passion, and for him love was 'the main theme and origin of true poems'. He created a rich mythology where love, fear, fantasy and the supernatural play an essential role. Intimate yet universal, passionate yet precise, their brilliant alchemy of realism and magic made Graves's poems some of the finest of the last century. In this edition the poems appear without critical apparatus or commentary. The volume represents in its purest form the achievement of Graves's seventy productive years.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224356270453,"sku":"9780141182063","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141182063_c1a5c1b2-9b4e-4094-b542-d5a2e07811af.jpg?v=1786011217"},{"product_id":"9780141197661","title":"Homer's Daughter","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eHomer's Daughter\u003c\/i\u003e Robert Graves recreates the \u003ci\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis bold retelling of the ancient epic imagines that its author was not the blind and bearded Homer of legend, but a young woman in Western Sicily who calls herself Nausicaä.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Robert Graves's words, \u003ci\u003eHomer's Daughter\u003c\/i\u003e is 'the story of a high-spirited and religious-minded Sicilian girl who saves her father's throne from usurpation, herself from a distasteful marriage, and her two younger brothers from butchery by boldly making things happen, instead of sitting still and hoping for the best.'\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224392020341,"sku":"9780141197661","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141197661_d80bfdb3-2322-4949-ad83-a372bd406aea.jpg?v=1786032738"},{"product_id":"9780141197678","title":"Seven Days in New Crete","description":"\u003cp\u003eEdward Venn-Thomas lives in the twentieth century but has been mysteriously transported to the future, and the apparently idyllic society of New Create, where there is no hunger, no war and no dissatisfaction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHowever Venn-Thomas is starting to find life among the New Cretans rather dull.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe comes to realize that their perfect existence, inspired by the poets and magicians of their strange occultic religion, lacks one fundamental thing - evil. So Venn-Thomas sees it as nothing less than his duty to introduce them to the darker side of life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1949 and also known as \u003ci\u003eWatch the North Wind Rise\u003c\/i\u003e, Graves's novel is a thrilling blend of utopian fantasy, science fiction and mythology.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224392053109,"sku":"9780141197678","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141197678_edd097e0-1a16-436b-a5dd-04679e85bb91.jpg?v=1786010992"},{"product_id":"9780141197654","title":"King Jesus","description":"Robert Graves's controversial historical novel is a bold reworking of the story of Christ. Here Jesus is not the son of God, but the result of a secret marriage - the descendant of Herod and true King of the Jews. Written from the perspective of a lowly official at the end of the first century AD, \u003ci\u003eKing Jesus\u003c\/i\u003e recounts Jesus's birth, youth, life as a charismatic 'wonder worker' and the unorthodox, bitter nature of his death and resurrection. Portraying Jesus not as divine but as a flawed human bent upon his own doom, this retelling of the gospels is a compelling blend of research, imagination and narrative power.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224444973429,"sku":"9780141197654","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141197654_52242432-4076-44e7-b7d9-476c2184c291.jpg?v=1786032737"},{"product_id":"9780141197500","title":"Wife to Mr Milton","description":"\u003cp\u003eMarie Powell is sixteen when her father marries her to the poet John Milton in payment of a debt. They move to a pretty garden-house in London, but she struggles to adjust to her new life. Her husband is high-minded and unyielding, and only makes Marie long for the man she really loves. As Civil War sweeps across England and the King is killed, a battle starts to rage between husband and wife - one that only the powerful can win. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTold through the fictional journals of Milton's wife, Robert Graves's sympathetic and sensitive reconstruction of her tragic life is also a convincing, linguistically rich portrait of seventeenth-century England as it is ravaged by war.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224613040501,"sku":"9780141197500","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141197500_5ef53b4c-5c17-4610-af5b-f1a6ed403633.jpg?v=1786010984"},{"product_id":"9780141189451","title":"Complete Short Stories","description":"The ever-popular novelist and story-teller Robert Graves wrote fascinating and durable stories, here collected together in a single volume for the first time by the poet's daughter Lucia Graves.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224739295605,"sku":"9780141189451","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141189451_0137ab84-4a72-4314-a0a3-fafbe7a9b9f4.jpg?v=1786011584"},{"product_id":"9780241951415","title":"Penguin Essentials Goodbye To All That","description":"\u003cb\u003e'There has been a lot of fighting hereabouts. The trenches have made themselves rather than been made, and run inconsequently in and out of the big thirty-foot high stacks of bricks; it is most confusing. The parapet of a trench which we don't occupy is built up with ammunition boxes and corpses . . .'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn one of the most honest and candid self-portraits ever committed to paper, Robert Graves tells the extraordinary story of his experiences as a young officer in the First World War. He describes life in the trenches in vivid, raw detail, how the dehumanizing horrors he witnessed left him shell-shocked. They were to haunt him for the rest of his life.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56231369179509,"sku":"9780241951415","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241951415_5ddba7b5-ba0e-44b6-a510-1bea2da82562.jpg?v=1786012250"},{"product_id":"9781609807641","title":"They Hanged My Saintly Billy","description":"A real historical figure, the British surgeon Dr. William Palmer was accused in 1856 of murdering fourteen people by means of poison. The Dr. Kevorkian trial of the 19th century, with a bit of O.J. Simpson mixed in for good measure, the scandal entranced nearly the entire population of the British Isles. Everyone had an opinion on the case--including esteemed poet and historical fabulist Robert Graves. \u003ci\u003eThey Hanged My Saintly Billy\u003c\/i\u003e is true crime as only a true literary master could write it, with exquisitely rendered portraits of Palmer's era and milieu, told from the shifting perspectives of all who came into contact with the notorious doctor. Just as his renowned \u003ci\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/i\u003e opened a window onto a case of history once thought to be closed, Graves's account of Palmer's life recasts the surgeon as a victim of yellow journalism and overzealous judges. But ultimately it's left up to the reader to decide whether or not Palmer's mother is in the right, or merely duped along with the rest of Palmer's supporters, when she laments: \"Yes, they hanged my saintly Billy! He was a bit of a scamp right enough, but a good son to me; the best of the brood . . . and no murderer.\"\u003cbr\u003eSeven Stories' Robert Graves Project spans 14 titles, and includes fiction and nonfiction, adult, young adult and children's books, in a striking new uniform design, with new introductions and afterwords. \u003ci\u003eThey Hanged My Saintly Billy\u003c\/i\u003e joins our recent re-publication of \u003ci\u003eThe Reader Over Your Shoulder\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAnn at Highwood Hall\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Fleece\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eHomer's Daughter\u003c\/i\u003e. Among the works still to come are \u003ci\u003eCount Belisarius\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHebrew Myths\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eLawrence and the Arabs\u003c\/i\u003e. The online partner for the Robert Graves Project is RosettaBooks","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56301755597173,"sku":"9781609807641","price":18.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781609807641_f3d8a6f5-ac80-4b93-9e3b-ca9eeedecf2f.jpg?v=1786023240"},{"product_id":"9781644210550","title":"Hebrew Myths","description":"\u003cb\u003eA scholarly approach to sixty-one stories from the book of Genesis, following in the lucid format of Graves' canonical The Greek Myths. With a new introduction by author of \u003ci\u003eBibliotheca,\u003c\/i\u003e Adam Lewis Greene.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn exhaustive study of sixty-one stories from the Old Testament and the Torah, as well as pre-biblical texts censored for centuries, that nuance, extend, and complete the book of Genesis. Graves and Patai, renowned scholars of Greco-Roman and Hebrew mythology, transcend the Christian biblical and Judaic versions of these narratives, in order to redefine myth. Myths are reconceived as dramatic stories that form a sacred charter either authorizing the continuance or the alteration of religious beliefs. Authorized biblical texts are interpreted against the grain to expose folk tales, apocryphal texts, midrashes, and other little-known documents that the Old Testament and the Torah exclude. Thus, the mythological component underlying the theological component is revealed. This is a useful companion to Graves' \u003ci\u003eThe Greek Myths\u003c\/i\u003e, as it puts forth the thesis that the Hebrews, unlike the Greeks, used myth to sermonize on national history and destiny. Though the authors were true intellectuals, they were considered mavericks by the mainstream academy.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56302803616117,"sku":"9781644210550","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781644210550_c1cb39f4-cdcc-43c0-b8e7-a90d459e492e.jpg?v=1786024232"},{"product_id":"9781609807337","title":"The Reader Over Your Shoulder","description":"In late October 1939, Robert Graves wrote to Alan Hodge: “I have begun a new book, about English.” Graves and Hodge had recently completed a social history of the between-wars period called \u003ci\u003eThe Long Week-End\u003c\/i\u003e. Now they embarked on this new project, “a handbook for writers of English Prose,” to be called \u003ci\u003eThe Reader Over Your Shoulder\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The world was in total upheaval. Graves had already fled Majorca three years earlier at the start of the Spanish Civil War. As they labored over their new writing project, Graves and Hodge witnessed the fall of France and the evacuation of Allied forces at Dunkirk. In early September 1940 began the bombing of London by the German Luftwaffe, a concentrated effort to destroy the resolve of the English people. Graves’s and Hodge’s idea was simple enough: at a time when their whole world was falling apart, the survival of English prose sentences, of writing that was clear, concise, intelligible, had become paramount if hope were going to survive the onslaught. They came up with forty-one principles for writing, the majority devoted to clarity, the remainder to grace of expression. They studied the prose of a wide range of noted authors and leaders, finding much room for improvement. Quoting grammarian and bestselling author Patricia T. O’Conner from her new introduction, “With a new war to be won, the kingdom couldn’t afford careless, sloppy English. Good communication was critical.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The book they would write would turn out to be one of the most erudite, and at the same time one of the most spontaneous and inspired, ever to take on the challenge of writing well. O’Conner in her introduction describes \u003ci\u003eThe Reader Over Your Shoulder \u003c\/i\u003eas nothing less than “the best book on writing ever published.” The present edition restores, for the first time in three-quarters of a century, the original, 1943, text, which in subsequent printings and editions had been shortened by over 150 pages, including much of the heart of the book.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305177985397,"sku":"9781609807337","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781609807337_abfb3568-4321-4949-a238-7e155c304101.jpg?v=1786023238"},{"product_id":"9781841593845","title":"Goodbye to all that","description":"\u003cp\u003eRobert Graves, aged nineteen, left school within a week of the outbreak of World War I, and immediately volunteered with the Royal Welch Fusiliers. His experiences as a junior officer form the heart of this compelling autobiography. Beginning with an ironic overview of his Edwardian childhood, he proceeds to a tongue-in-cheek account of a young poet's life at public school (not helpful to be half-German, but handy to take up boxing), progressing to caricatures of military stereotypes he encounters in training, and the devastating farce of the War itself, the blundering and mismanagement, and the appalling human consequences. Graves's handling of the horrors of war is always deadpan, honest and unadorned. It is wholly in line with his sense of the absurd that his commanding officer should write to inform his parents that he had died of wounds during the battle of the Somme. He soon found that patriotism was meaningless to the men in the trenches; loyalty to comrades alive and dead drove him back to active service though still suffering from shell-shock.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e     Goodbye to All That\u003c\/i\u003e takes Graves through his convalescence in England, his efforts to protect the poet Siegfried Sassoon, a friend and fellow officer, from the consequences of his public denunciation of the war; marriage to artist and feminist Nancy Nicholson, postwar undergraduate years at Oxford and a decade as a struggling writer with four young children, beset with money problems and neurasthenia. It is written in a spirit of defiance as he prepared to put 'all that' behind him and begin a new life in Majorca with the American poet Laura Riding.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308080181621,"sku":"9781841593845","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781841593845_b36f28b5-c17a-4e16-a961-e6c159394668.jpg?v=1786027830"},{"product_id":"the-anger-of-achilles","title":"The Anger of Achilles","description":"\u003cb\u003eRobert Graves's dynamic retelling of Homer's powerful epic poem\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis edition of Homer 's \u003ci\u003eIliad\u003c\/i\u003e , retold with authority and grace by the incomparable Robert Graves, takes a revered classic back to its roots as popular entertainment. War is raging between the Greeks and the Trojans. Achilles, the great warrior champion of the Greek army, is angrily sulking in his tent and refusing to fight, after an argument with his leader, Agamemnon. But when the Trojan warrior Hector kills Achilles' beloved friend Patroclus, Achilles plunges back into battle to seek his bloody revenge-even though it will bring about his own doom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57481564848501,"sku":"9780140455601","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780140455601.jpg?v=1786089836"},{"product_id":"i-claudius-claudius-the-god","title":"I, Claudius, Claudius the God","description":"A grandson of Mark Antony, young Claudius is mistaken for a weakling and an idiot because of his stutter and his physical infirmities and grows up learning to use his reputation for harmlessness as a shield. Dismissed as insignificant by his powerful relatives as they compete with each other for power, he spends his time writing a secret history of the first three emperors of Rome as observed from his remarkable ringside vantage point—a dramatic tale that makes up the pages of I, Claudius.   Claudius’s impersonation of a fool enables him to escape the intrigues and poisonings that mark his predecessors’ reigns, including the machinations of his murderous grandmother Livia and his dangerously mad nephew, Caligula. After assassinating Caligula, the Praetorian Guard declare Claudius the nextemperor—over his protests. He accepts only to avoid civil war, and Claudius the God traces his attempts to strengthen Rome and restore the Republic. But his efforts are undermined by his corrupt wife, Messalina, and the ambitions of his own son, Britannicus, and he is unable to prevent the doom he foresees for Rome when his great-nephew Nero succeeds him as emperor.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57510054986101,"sku":"9781841594415","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781841594415.jpg?v=1787130361"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-robert-graves.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}