Stilicho - the book

[sonic]

Hello all.

It's recently been brought to my attention that I have failed to inform the readers of this august forum that I have a new book available - via Pen and Sword (Stilicho: The Vandal Who Saved Rome) and all good book shops (and Amazon! - ditto). I grovel in abject apology for the oversight and hope you can all find it in your hearts to forgive me.

'Stilicho: the Vandal Who Saved Rome' was published 30 June 2010 by Pen and Sword and is an attempt to re-evaluate the life and career of the late-Roman magister militum Stilicho using the relatively-meagre sources available.

I hope that you enjoy it and find it useful.

Ian

[markusaurelius]

Thanks for the heads up. Always looking for some great late roman material. Stilicho was an interesting figure, and like Aetius, one of those late Roman "what if they had succeeded....." figures.

[sonic]

Thanks for the heads up. Always looking for some great late roman material. Stilicho was an interesting figure, and like Aetius, one of those late Roman "what if they had succeeded....." figures.

Strange that you should mention Aetius - or maybe not! I'm now writing a book on Aetius and have reached the time (450) where Theodosius has just died, and Honoria has been caught having an affair and has asked Attila for help.

I'm enjoying most of the writing, but using the small scraps which are all that are left of the sources is like putting together a jigsaw where you have no idea what the end picture is supposed to look like. :|

Mind you, this all means that before long I'll be analyzing the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. Now that I'm looking forward to! :mrgreen:

[Robert Vermaat]

Hi Ian,

Looking forward to both.
What do you think of that review at amazon.org.uk?

[sonic]

Hi Ian,

Looking forward to both.
What do you think of that review at amazon.co.uk?

It's difficult when reading reviews of your own work. I can kind of understand his complaint that the references are end-notes, which can be tedious to find, rather than footnotes, which are instantly-available, but that is the policy of Pen and Sword. I must admit too that in most respects I would have preferred footnotes at the bottom of the page, but I can understand why the publishers wanted end-notes: in some cases more than half of a page can be taken by footnotes rather than text.

I feel that I did my best to highlight where statements are hypothesis in the text, however that is one of the greatest difficulties when writing: something that is clear and precise to the writer - who is intimate with the subject - can still appear vague to the reader.

However, overall I am happy. Writing about individuals such as Stilicho where the evidence is so poor means that much of the information that remains is open to a wide variety of interpretations. The fact that the reviewer states that the book is a 'valuable reanalysis' and is 'more enjoyable and more scholarly' than 'Belisarius', which most people seem to have liked, gives me hope for the future.

The only worrying part is where the reviewer is looking forward to 'Aetius', which he clearly expects to be either as good as or better than 'Stilicho'. Oh dear: no pressure then ....

[Theodosius the Great]

This will be my next book. I enjoyed your first one very much, Ian.
I look forward to reading your future titles for years to come.

Maybe we should add a subforum to the 'References and Reviews' section just for authors so they can announce their books in advance ?

Just a suggestion.

~Theo

[sonic]

This will be my next book. I enjoyed your first one very much, Ian.
I look forward to reading your future titles for years to come.

Thanks for the support. I hope my editor's reading that last sentence, as I have lots of ideas for books .... :mrgreen:

Maybe we should add a subforum to the 'References and Reviews' section just for authors so they can announce their books in advance ?

Actually, that's quite a good idea. I'll admit that part of the reason why I didn't announce the book earlier was that I'm English and therefore I've been brought up to be modest and not shout about myself. :? wink:

[Gäiten]

Just very curious, can you give us a little what you may write about after finishing Aetius? I have some hopes ...

[sonic]

Just very curious, can you give us a little what you may write about after finishing Aetius? I have some hopes ...

What are your hopes?

I have signed deals for another two books after 'Aetius', but I think that if my editor found out I was talking about them he'd go ape! The world of publishing is very 'dog-eat-dog', so if I said what I'd signed for other publishers would pinch the idea and beat us to it!! :evil:

Let's just say that I might want to finish off the Empire in the West, at least down to 480 when Julius Nepos died. I also want to delve into (slightly) earlier history, but I think the earliest I would want to go at the moment with Roman history would be the '3rd century crisis'.

If you want any more info, email the publishers at Pen and Sword: you might not find out what you want, but you could always tell them what you want me to write about! :wink:

[Gäiten]

My hopes are:

Septimus Severus
Gallienus
Diocletian
Constantius II.

If you are interested in other cultures than the Romans what about the Sassanians?

Ardashir I., Shapur I. and Shapur II. would make great stories.

Maybe I could recommend you as author for these books when I email Pen and Sword?

[Virilis]

Hahahaha! It`s Gallienus !!!

[sonic]

Hahahaha! It`s Gallienus !!!

OK. I'll admit it: I'm dumb. Explanation please. :oops:

[Gäiten]

I do not get it, either.

Maybe due his bad reputation given the reports of some ancient historians (IMHO he was a great Roman emperor)?

[Virilis]

Hahahaha! It`s Gallienus !!!

OK. I'll admit it: I'm dumb. Explanation please. :oops:

Sorry, just have been hoping to get a good book about Gallienus, no "secret knowledge" here :oops: ...

[sonic]

So Gallienus might be a popular choice for a book?

Interesting, as I've already discussed something along those lines with my editor. Mind you, it might be some time ...