Island of Ghosts by Gillian Bradshaw
Excellent Historical Fiction
A thoughtful and compelling novel of the clash of cultures as Roman
conquerors sweep across second-century Europe, written by the
acclaimed author of Horses of Heaven and The Bearkeepers Daughter.
Personal Review: Island of Ghosts by Gillian Bradshaw
One of the best historical novels I've read in a long time:
Not to give away the plot --- this is an exciting story with characters who
become real to the reader.
The Sarmatians, a barbarian tribe only recently subdued by the Romans
in a bloody war in the second century AD, are forced by the terms of the
peace settlement to send a large number of their best warriors to the
Roman colony of Britain to help bolster the Roman legions who are already
there. This is a mandatory part of the peace terms, in which the Romans,
instead of exterminating the entire Sarmatian people as had been
considered by Emperor Marcus Aurelius, instead forced the majority of the
Sarmatian warriors to become native adjuncts of the Roman army, (within

their own units) and to be sent forever as far from their home as possible---
which was to the far outpost of the Roman Empire, the island of Britain.
In Sarmatia, beyond the Danube where the Sarmatian tribe lived their
nomadic life, the warriors who were forced to leave for Britain are
considered dead, given funerals, and go to the unknown land knowing it
will be forever.
The Sarmatians were an actual tribe related to the ancient Persians (at
least in language) and are reminiscent of the Native Americans of the
Plains They were, like the Plains Indians, a warrior culture in which
manhood was equated with successful raiding, killing their rivals in a fair
fight togehter with a concept of manhood and honor that overrode
everything else:including riches,and power. They were completely
nomadic, had no writing, but only a history based on song and oral
tradition. They even took scalps of their enemies, and were known for
their fighting expertise on horseback. Interestingly, they wore heavy
armor, much like later Medieval knights, and used stirrups, something no
other group at that time used in that way.
Thrust into Romanized Britain, unable to understand the basics of the
culture--they had never used money, slept indoors or worked for pay---they
would have been lost and helpless except for one Sarmatian leader, a
prince in Sarmatia, but one with a blighted past who volunteered to lead
his men into permanent exile, and who comes forward,and accepts the
hostility of his own men by working closely with the Romans in order to
help his people make the transition, and also be treated fairly.
That is just a briefest outline of the novel. There are vivid descriptions of
Sarmatian warrior culture, and their difficulty in adjusting to rigid and totally
different Roman rules and discipline. There ia plot having to do with
mutiny and there is romance. It is exciting and hard to put down. The
characters--especially the Sarmatians--are beautifully drawn and the
reader feels empathy as these warriors try to understand the strange
world to which they have been forever banished.
This is one of the best historical novels I have read in quite a while; in fact I
read it twice, again immediately after finishing it the first time, something I
rarely if ever do.
The characters are real, and the story engrossing.
Every book of Gillian Bradshaw's that I have read has been excellent, well
written and historically accurate. As a fan of history and of good historical
fiction (that is, based on factual knowledge and with research that keeps
the characters believable in their time and place) Bradshaw's novels are
among the best I've read.

As another reviewer wrote: Bradshaw is very much like the late Mary
Renault whose historical fiction is among the very best. (Another really
worthwhile writer in the historical fiction genre is Pauline Gedge.)
Bradshaw seems to move about in time--that is, writes about different eras
and places, more so than either of the above mentioned writers--her books
cover Roman Britain, the Empire of Byzantium, Arthurian legends, the
medieval era and Imperial Rome; whereas Renault specialized in ancient
Greece and Gedge in ancient Egypt.
Highly recommended: an excellent, well written book that stays with the
reader.
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