Customer Reviews (1)

They Don't Come Much Greater ThanQueen Boudica
Author Plantagenet Somerset Fry (gimme a pint of what his parents were drinking when they named him), renders a fine, if somewhat short documentation of Iceni Queen Boudica and her awsome uniting of England's disparate celtic tribes in battle against the Roman occupationary government commanded by Gaius Suetonius Paullinus. To put into perspective the greatness of this feat, consider that this rebellion lead to the largest Roman defeat in over 300 years, pitting peasant Britons against well equiped and militarily advanced Roman legions.
Fry tends to accept as read Roman historical accounts of the barbarism enacted by Boudica's army as they ransacked Colchester and London. Since we only have the written words of Romans to document this uprising, I tend to believe a losing army would be inclined to paint a more derogatory picture of their opponents than was perhaps accurate. This notwithstanding, the book is is a stiring if economical account of arguably the greatest female military leader the world has ever witnessed. Boudica's rebellion was short lived, but it was nonetheless brilliant.
Read also: "Boadicea" by J.M. Scott, ISBN 0 09 459580 1 (out of print) ... Read more