Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age
Tom Holland
Abacus, £30, pp448
The bestselling historian, author and co-host of The Rest Is History podcast turns his attention to Rome’s golden age in the third of his superb books on the Roman empire. As the title suggests, the seven decades after AD69 are a time of peace and remarkable prosperity, but they only come as a result of extreme violence, and four emperors in one year. Holland’s superb storytelling takes us right into this era as viewed from every standpoint (including our own), offering fresh and vivid insights into well-worn history.
Settlers: Journeys Through the Food, Faith and Culture of Black African London
Jimi Famurewa
Bloomsbury, £10.99, pp320 (paperback)
In the necessary desire to mark the 75th anniversary of Windrush, the impact of Black Africans from Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Somalia and elsewhere on the cultural and social life of London can be overlooked. Food writer, author and broadcaster Jimi Famurewa avoids any divisions here, though, weaving the incredible histories, cultures and customs of the African immigrant experience into the broader fabric of an increasingly confident and proud Black identity. Combined with his own family history, this is a sometimes painful but always positive story of defiance and reclamation.
Commitment
Mona Simpson
Corsair, £18.99, pp416
Commitment is an apt title for this family epic; Mona Simpson’s chronicle of deeply depressed single mother Diane and the effects of her illness on her three children across the sweep of the 1970s US demands close attention and, sometimes, patience. But it’s worth it; Simpson’s quietly devastating writing eventually carves out distinctive and memorable multigenerational characters, each with their own compelling stories, motivations and locations. Ultimately, Commitment is a familiar tale of survival, love and friendship, but the precise detail of the relationships makes it stand apart.
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