Product Description

Violence and unrest are sweeping through Roman Britain. Justin and Flavius find themselves caught up in the middle of it all when they discover a plot to overthrow the Emperor. In fear for their lives they gather together a tattered band of men and lead them into the thick of battle, to defend the honour of Rome. But will they be in time to save the Emperor . . . Rosemary Sutcliff's books about Roman Britain have won much acclaim and the first in the trilogy, The Eagle of the Ninth, has now sold over a million copies worldwide. The author writes with such passion and with such attention to detail that the Roman age is instantly brought to life and stays with the reader long after the last page has been turned.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30849 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
Rosemary Sutcliff has written many historical novels for children. The third in the Eagle of the Ninth trilogy about Roman Britain, The Lantern Bearers, won the Carnegie Medal.
Rosemary Sutcliff received an OBE in 1975 and in 1993, the year after her death, was awarded the CBE.

Customer Reviews

Worth it if you liked The Eagle of the Ninth
The Silver Branch is a sequel to Rosemary Sutcliff's classic The Eagle of the Ninth. Unlike with many sequels, it is not essential to have read the original, but it would increase the enjoyment to have done so, as the central characters are descendants of those in the first book and the legionary eagle makes an appearance.

In some ways it is quite a different book to the Eagle of the Ninth - less of an adventure and more a story of intrigue, featuring a treacherous usurping emperor and a secret operation to shepherd fugitives out of Roman Britain. However it does feature an evocative battle scene, something which is quite a hallmark of Sutcliff's novels.

An unfortunate similarity that it shares with some of her other books is that it is difficult to tell which audience it is aimed at. The beauty of Sutcliff's prose and original ideas can make it slightly heady reading for many children (especially when one adds in the references to Euripides' Hippolytus); and the fact that it is marketed as a children's book would put off adults unnecessarily. I do not mean this as a criticism of the book itself, but as an observation on the unfortunate position it holds.

If this was to be your first taste of Rosemary Sutcliff I would not really recommend this book, as to an extent it lacks the verve, pace and characterisation of the Eagle of the Ninth. However, if you enjoyed that one it is certainly worth the read.

A lifelong favourite
When I was just old enough to start taking an interest in 'real' books, a wise librarion suggested to my mother that I might like the 'Silver Branch'. I have loved it ever since and have read and reread it many times. Later books in Sutcliff's Roman series--The Lantern Bearers and above all the magnificant Sword at Sunset--are perhaps greater, but there is a special quality to this book. It has such an extraordinary sense of time and place, and the story of conflicted loyalties and true friendship is so powerful and timeless. We are used, since Pullman's His Dark Materials, to the idea of 'cross-over' books, written for teenagers, but read by adults. Sutcliff's best books, like this one, pulled off that trick forty years ago, and they are still a marvellous read--for any age--today. Generations of later historical authors owe much of their success to Sutcliff's model. Read 'The Silver Branch' and find out why.