Book description
Despised for his weakness and regarded by his family as little more
than a stammering fool, the nobleman Claudius quietly survives the
intrigues, bloody purges and mounting cruelty of the imperial Roman
dynasties. In I, Claudius 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, and stands as one of the most celebrated, gripping
historical novels ever written.
Robert Ranke Graves (1895-1985) was a British poet, novelist, and
critic. He is best known for the historical novel I, Claudius and the
critical study of myth and poetry The White Goddess. He wrote his
autobiography, Goodbye to All That, in 1929, and it was soon
established as a modern classic. He also translated Apuleius, Lucan
and Suetonius for the Penguin Classics, and compiled the first modern
dictionary of Greek Mythology, The Greek Myths. His translation of The
Rub iy t of Omar Khayy m (with Omar Ali-Shah) is also published in Penguin.
Barry Unsworth is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and
holds an honorary doctorate from Manchester University. He is the
author of 15 novels, among them 'Sacred Hunger', which won the 1992
Booker Prize. 'Pascali's Island' (1980) and 'Morality Play' (1995)
were shortlisted for the same prize. His most recent novel 'The Ruby
in Her Navel' is due for publication in 2006. He lives in Italy.
