Adrian Goldsworthy Explained

Adrian Goldsworthy
Nationality:	British
Alma Mater:	St John's College, Oxford
Website:	http://www.adriangoldsworthy.com

Adrian Keith Goldsworthy (; born 1969) is a British historian and novelist who specialises in ancient Roman history.

Education

Adrian Goldsworthy attended Westbourne School, Penarth. He then read Ancient and Modern History at St John's College, Oxford,^[1] completing a D.Phil. in ancient military history from the University of Oxford in 1994. That dissertation laid the foundation of his first book, The Roman Army at War 100 BC – AD 200.

Career

Goldsworthy was appointed a Junior Research Fellow at Cardiff University for two years, taught briefly at King's College London and was an assistant professor on the University of Notre Dame's London programme for six years.^[2] His expertise is in Roman history, but he has also taught a course on the military history of the Second World War.

Goldsworthy has appeared on History Channel documentaries and the television game show Time Commanders,^[1] serving as an expert on battles being fought by the contestants, and he gave a speech about Roman history and politics to the cast of a 2010 Liverpool production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.

In 2010 Goldsworthy began writing a series of military novels - based not in Roman times but in the Napoleonic era and concentrating on Wellington's redcoat army, another period in which he has great interest.^[3] His first novel, True Soldier Gentlemen, was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2011 and was followed by Beat the Drums Slowly and Send Me Safely Back Again. The titles of each of his novels are taken from the lyrics of popular military songs of the period.^[4]

Asked about his philosophy of life, Goldsworthy responded that he was "English, so obviously do not have a philosophy. I am a Christian, though, if you want to know about important beliefs."^[5] Goldsworthy lives in South Wales.^[5]

Works

Goldsworthy has written several historical works on ancient Rome, especially the Roman army, and nine novels.

Nonfiction

• The Roman Army at War 100 BC – AD 200 (OUP, 1996)
• Roman Warfare (Cassell, 2000)
• The Punic Wars (Cassell, 2000)
  • Reprint title: The Fall of Carthage: The Punic Wars 265–146 BC, (Cassell, 2003)
• Fields of Battle: Cannae (Orion, 2001) ^[6]
• Caesar's Civil War: 49–44 BC (2002), Osprey Publishing
• In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire (Orion, 2003)
• The Complete Roman Army (Thames & Hudson, 2003)
• Caesar, Life of a Colossus, (Yale University Press, 2006) ^[7]
• The Fall of the West: The Slow Death of the Roman Superpower (Orion 2009)
  • U.S. title: How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower, (Yale University Press, 2009)
• Antony and Cleopatra (2010); Yale University Press
• Augustus: First Emperor of Rome, (Yale University Press, 2014)
• Pax Romana. War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman World, (Orion Publishing Co, 2016) 528 p ^[1]
• Hadrian's Wall (Basic Books, 2018).
• (Head of Zeus, 2020)
• The Eagle and the Lion: Rome, Persia and an Unwinnable Conflict (Head of Zeus, 2023)
  • U.S. title: Rome and Persia: The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry, (Basic Books, 2023)

Novels

• Napoleonic Wars Series
  • True Soldier Gentlemen (2011), (George Weidenfeld & Nicolson) ; his first novel^[8]
  • Beat the Drums Slowly (2011)
  • Send Me Safely Back Again (2012)
  • All in Scarlet Uniform (2013)
  • Run Them Ashore (2014)
  • Whose Business is to Die (2015)
• Roman Britain Series
  • Vindolanda (Head of Zeus, 2017) ^[9]
  • The Encircling Sea (Head of Zeus, 2018)
  • Brigantia (Head of Zeus, 2019)
  • The Fort (Head of Zeus, 2021)
  • The City (Head of Zeus, 2022)
  • The Wall (Head of Zeus, 2023)

External links

• Adrian Goldsworthy's website
• Audio interview with Goldsworthy at National Review Online
• Audio podcast of talk in 2013 by Adrian Goldsworthy on Roman Warfare at The New York Military Affairs Symposium http://nymas.org/ in NYC.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Adrian Goldsworthy. Georgina Capel Associates. 25 August 2021. 25 June 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220625074448/http://www.georginacapel.com/our-authors/dr-adrian-goldsworthy/. dead.
2. Web site: 'End of the Roman Empire' begins MSU humanities speaker series. 10 June 2009. Mississippi State University. 25 August 2021.
3. Web site: Napoleon's comeback: from exile on Elba to the Hundred Days. Adrian Goldsworthy. History Extra. 25 August 2021.
4. Web site: Dr Adrian Goldsworthy - Fiction page.. 23 April 2016.
5. Web site: Adrian Goldsworthy, author of Caesar: The Life of a Colossus, answers our questions . Orion Publishing Group . 13 January 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150403073418/https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/authors/interviews/adrian-goldsworthy-q-a . 3 April 2015 . dead .
6. Book: Goldsworthy, Adrian . Cannae . Cassell . London . 2001 . 0-304-35714-6 .
7. Caesar, Life of a Colossus. Bryn Mawr Classical Review. Josh Levithan. 25 August 2021.
8. Book: Goldsworthy, Adrian . True soldier gentlemen . Weidenfeld & Nicolson . London . 2011 . 978-0-297-86035-8 .
9. Book: Goldsworthy, Adrian . Vindolanda . Head of Zeus Ltd . London . 2017 . 9781784974701 .