{"title":"Robert Graves","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"i-claudius","title":"I, Claudius","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublished in 1934, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is Robert Graves’s celebrated historical novel, an ingenious reconstruction of Imperial Rome told through the imagined memoirs of the Emperor Claudius. Born into the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius is dismissed by his powerful family as a fool because of his stammer and physical disabilities, allowing him to survive the murderous intrigues that consume those around him. Through his eyes, Graves brings to life the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius and Caligula, revealing a world of political ambition, betrayal, conspiracy and calculated violence. At the heart of the narrative stand the formidable Livia, whose influence over the imperial household is matched only by her appetite for power, and the increasingly perceptive Claudius, who observes far more than anyone suspects.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDrawing upon the accounts of Tacitus, Suetonius and other classical historians, Graves transforms the distant figures of Roman history into vivid, deeply human characters. His recreation of the ancient world is at once meticulously researched and irresistibly contemporary, exploring the corruption of power, the fragility of political institutions and the strange advantages of being underestimated. Combining historical scholarship with dark humour, psychological insight and the intimacy of autobiography, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e remains one of the great historical novels of the twentieth century and the defining work of Graves’s fiction.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“He was always boasting of his ancestors, as stupid people do who are aware that they have done nothing themselves to boast about.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Robert Graves, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“He has done what few historians can do by making a complicated period of history as exciting, as plausible, as a well-told story.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— TIME, 1934\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64213889679690,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"claudius-the-god","title":"Claudius the God","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublished in 1934, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eClaudius the God\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is Robert Graves’s sequel to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, continuing the imagined memoirs of the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Caesar. Following the assassination of his nephew Caligula, Claudius unexpectedly ascends to the imperial throne, exchanging the relative safety of scholarly life for the dangerous responsibilities of absolute power. Surrounded by ambitious senators, military commanders and foreign rulers, he attempts to restore stability to an empire shaped by corruption, intrigue and violence. His relationships with the Jewish king Herod Agrippa and his increasingly troublesome wife Messalina become central to a reign in which private affections and political responsibilities are rarely separable.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs Claudius discovers the burdens of governing Rome, Graves explores the uneasy distance between good intentions and political reality, exposing the vulnerability of even the most conscientious ruler to ambition, betrayal and manipulation. Drawing upon classical historians while giving the ancient world the immediacy of personal testimony, Graves combines historical scholarship with psychological drama, irony and dark humour. Together with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, the novel forms one of the great literary recreations of Imperial Rome, transforming a much-maligned emperor into a complex study of power, responsibility and the cost of survival.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“I can’t understand you people. It amazes me that after having been ruled for years by a madman you should be ready to commit the government to an idiot.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Robert Graves, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eClaudius the God\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOn \u003cem\u003eClaudius the God\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“A wonderful achievement in marrying an historically accurate plot with a compelling narrative and psychologically fascinating characters.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Jason, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eWe Need to Talk About Books\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64214159360330,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"goodbye-to-all-that","title":"Goodbye to All That","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublished in 1929, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGoodbye to All That\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is Robert Graves’s remarkable autobiography of a childhood in Edwardian England and a young adulthood transformed by the First World War. From his schooldays at Charterhouse to the trenches of France, Graves recounts the friendships, absurdities and brutal realities that shaped his generation, including his close friendship with fellow poet Siegfried Sassoon. His account of trench warfare, his serious wounds and the difficult return to civilian life offers an unusually intimate portrait of a world irrevocably altered by conflict.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWritten with candour, dark humour and a striking refusal of sentimentality, the book is both a personal reckoning and a fierce rejection of the society that preceded the war. Its unsparing treatment of military life, patriotism, class and memory made it one of the defining autobiographical works to emerge from the First World War. Graves’s later revisions changed the character of the original, but the 1929 edition remains especially compelling for its rawness and its sense of a writer taking leave of an entire world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“There was no patriotism in the trenches.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Robert Graves, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGoodbye to All That\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGoodbye to All That\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Graves's superbly sardonic account of his childhood, schooling, the great war and his first marriage”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— P. D. Smith, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64214259761482,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1028\/0389\/8698\/files\/goodbye-to-all-that-robert-graves-english-bookstore-paris.png?v=1793740601"}],"url":"https:\/\/thelamppostparis.com\/collections\/robert-graves.oembed","provider":"The Lamp-Post Library \u0026 Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}