Most Popular Books by Robert Graves

Reissue of the two classic novels set in Ancient Rome.

The author of I, Claudius puts his own twist on the myth of the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece: "A tour de force . . . A richly tapestried epic" ( Kirkus Reviews). An inventive reimagining of the story of Jason and the Argonauts, this novel by renowned poet and classicist Robert Graves brings heroic figures of Hellenistic myth to life. Graves's Jason is belligerent, energetic, and full of life, and the society Graves builds for him is outlandish and deeply invested in ancient cults. Against this primitive, religious backdrop, the charismatic Jason assembles a crew and sets out to retrieve the sacred gold-trimmed fleece that is sacred to Zeus, and that has been stolen by worshippers of the Triple Goddess. Accompanying him is Hercules, a brave warrior known more for his brawn, and his astonishingly good luck, than his brains. Robert Graves builds a compelling world that sets Hellenistic magic and mystery in a surprisingly gritty, realistic setting, a fascinating read for fans of Greek mythology. "A witty historical novel with much insider's lore on cult and ritual." — The New York Review of Books "Richly readable, thoroughly classical yet individually interpreted, this is a labor of love important to students, culture-seekers and readers." — Library Journal

An entertaining tirade against the perceived iniquities of the trade anthology. A statement of poetic integrity, it poses awkward questions about the production and consumption of art in the mass markets of twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Swashbuckling historical fiction from the author of I, Claudius. "A cleverly balanced mixture of spice, fact, humor and adventure on and off the high seas" ( Kirkus Reviews). Set in the Age of Exploration, The Islands of Unwisdom tells the story of the ill-fated Don Álvaro de Mendaña y Neyra, a Spanish explorer set on finding the Solomon Islands, the mythical source of King Solomon's vast wealth. Driven by greed, ambition, and lust, Don Alvaro and his wife, the beautiful and dangerous Ysabel, lead a crew of adventurers beyond the horizon in search of the wealth of their wildest dreams. However, that's not exactly what they find. In the hands of master historical novelist, classicist, and poet Robert Graves, this tale offers a fascinating look at a brutal and bloody era, and insights into the reasons for Spain's failure to ultimately dominate world exploration during this time.

"The Odyssey has been described as a 'women's' epic, full of female characters and different in kind and colour from the Iliad with its tight focus and its largely male world. Graves's Nausicaa is a brilliant story-teller. She is a princess of mixed ancestry, combining in herself the various cultures that inform the language and folklore of the epic. She lives in a Greek-Trojan settlement in Sicily some time after the Trojan War. Graves makes it possible for us to believe that she tells her own, true story, buried within Homer's epic. There is adventure and intrigue; the book stands near the beginning of a tradition that includes Leonardo Sciascia's The Council of Egypt and Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. Nausicaa is smart and resilient. She solves the mystery of her brother's disappearance, then organises a counterplot, recalling Odysseus's bloody, triumphal return to Ithaca."--BOOK JACKET.

The real story of T. E. Lawrence's life as told by the author of I, Claudius. "A combination of history, biography, and . . . an amazingly human tale" ( Boston Evening Transcript). Immortalized in the film Lawrence of Arabia, the real T. E. Lawrence was a leader, a war strategist, and a scholar, and is here immortalized in an intimate biography written by his close friend, the award-winning British novelist, poet and classicist Robert Graves. As a student at Oxford, T. E. Lawrence was fascinated with Middle Eastern history and culture, and underwent a four-month visit to Syria to study the fortifications built by the crusaders. Later, he returned to the region, this time as an archaeologist working with the British Army's Intelligence unit in Egypt during World War I. From there, in 1916, he joined Arab rebels fighting against Turkish domination. His brilliance as a desert war tactician earned him the respect of the Turkish fighters and worldwide renown. "Interesting and informative." — New York Herald Tribune "[Mr. Graves] has done his job admirably and without any too obvious excesses of hero worship." — New Statesman "[Readers] will consult Mr. Graves for information about this man." — The New Republic

In these true stories, the acclaimed writer Robert Graves explores the worlds of two men intent on success. Wife to Mr. Milton is an exploration into the marriage of a man the author considered one of the heinous monsters in the English poetic pantheon--John Milton--and how his wife was ill-used by him. Milton's first wife was 16 when they married, and Milton was after her dowry. When it did not follow he proved domineering and dishonest, unresponsive to her sensuousness and her down-to-earth wit. It was a spiritual misalliance, too: her Catholicism sorted ill with his beliefs. The dramatic political and military events of the English civil war touched her life at every point, including the execution of Charles I. The Isles of Unwisdom visits a different, very Catholic world, that of the expeditions of the Spanish explorers and discoverers, near contemporaries of Milton but not emancipated by the Reformation, who come unstuck in the New World. Reconstructed is the ill-fated voyage of Alvaro de Mendana y Neya to find the Solomon Islands, popularly believed to constitute the fabled Land of Ophir, where King Solomon amassed his legendary wealth.

When, through the efforts of an unscrupulous war profiteer, his father is threatened with dismissal from his job as keeper of an ancient castle, a young boy helps thwart the conspiracy and discovers an unexpected treasure.