Most Popular Books by Robert Graves

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.

The author of I, Claudius reimagines the Trojan War for the young reader. "The writing is clear, straightforward, and, in places, poetic" ( Kirkus Reviews). The Iliad has it all: war, corruption, greed, power, and the passions of both gods and men. In this detailed retelling, Robert Graves draws the major characters of this timeless classic in broad, gritty strokes, making Agamemnon, Paris, Odysseus, and others accessible for young readers. Written with a younger audience in mind, The Siege and Fall of Troy is nevertheless exhaustively researched and compelling enough to be of interest to both students of history and adult readers. With humor, wit, and energy, Graves is expert at weaving a story based on exhaustive scholarly research and deep imaginative prowess.

This is a collection of Robert Graves'' essays, written between 1922 and 1972, on areas of culture which engaged him. They are organized around the thematic categories of literature, history and religion. The collection chronicles Graves'' intellectual development by presenting the essays chronologically to show how ideas begin and evolve over half a century. At the same time, the essays demonstrate his eclectic knowledge over a vast range of topics and confirm not only his insights, but also his humour and famous leaps of logic.

Robert Graves, classicist, poet, and unorthodox critic, retells the Greek legends of gods and heroes for a modern audience And, in the two volumes of The Greek Myths, he demonstrates with a dazzling display of relevant knowledge that Greek Mythology is “no more mysterious in content than are modern election cartoons.” His work covers, in nearly two hundred sections, the creation myths; the legends of the births and lives of the great Olympians; the Theseus, Oedipus, and Heracles cycles; the Argonaut voyage; the tale of Troy, and much more. All the scattered elements of each myth have been assembled into a harmonious narrative, and many variants are recorded which may help to determine its ritual or historical meaning, Full references to the classical sources, and copious indexes, make the book as valuable to the scholar as to the general reader; and a full commentary on each myth explains and interprets the classical version in the light of today’s archaeological and anthropological knowledge.

This labyrinthine and extraordinary book, first published more than fifty years ago, was the outcome of Graves''s vast reading and curious research into strange territories of folklore, mythology, religion and magic. Erudite and impassioned, it is a scholar-poet''s quest for the meaning of European myths, a polemic about the relations between man and woman, and also an intensely personal document in which Graves explored the sources of his own inspiration and, as he believed, all true poetry. This new edition has been prepared by Grevel Lindop, who has written an illuminating introduction. The text of the book incorporates all Graves''s final revisions, as well as his replies totwo of the original reviewers, and a long essay in which he describes the months of inspiration in which The White Goddess was written.

Reissue of the two classic novels set in Ancient Rome.

Edward Venn-Thomas lives in the twentieth century but has been mysteriously transported to the future, and the apparently idyllic society of New Create, where there is no hunger, no war and no dissatisfaction. However Venn-Thomas is starting to find life among the New Cretans rather dull. He comes to realize that their perfect existence, inspired by the poets and magicians of their strange occultic religion, lacks one fundamental thing - evil. So Venn-Thomas sees it as nothing less than his duty to introduce them to the darker side of life. First published in 1949 and also known as Watch the North Wind Rise, Graves''s novel is a thrilling blend of utopian fantasy, science fiction and mythology.

The well-known English poet & essayist here ventures his interpretations of the humoristic element in literature.

The author of Sergeant Lamb''s America continues the fictionalized account of an Irish soldier fighting for the British during the Revolutionary War. This is the second in a two-book series telling the story of Sgt. Roger Lamb, a non-commissioned officer in the British Army, who served in America during the American War of Independence. Captured with Gen. Johnny Burgoyne after the Battle of Saratoga, he made a daring escape and later served under General Cornwallis. Following closely to Sergeant Lamb''s personal memoirs, renowned poet, classicist, and novelist Robert Graves traces the sergeant''s harrowing time in the service, providing a compelling, only barely fictionalized eyewitness account of a crucial point in American history.

Antigua, Penny, Puce

First published in 1938, Count Belisarius is one of Robert Graves''s most consistently popular novels. A historical romance of the sixth century AD, this tells the story of Belisarius, the last of the great generals of the Roman Empire, who reconquered Africa and Italy for the emperor in Constantinople, only to be rewarded with suspicion and humiliation. Lawrence and the Arabs also tells of a military hero, but one whom Graves knew personally and who was still living when this first authorized biography was published in 1927. Both as an attempt to tell the story of the Arab Revolt and Lawrence''s place in it, and as an installment in the growth of the legend of Lawrence of Arabia, it is an important historical and literary document. Read together, these books show Graves exploring the nature of heroism in a world grown profoundly suspicious of heroes.

"The best book on writing ever published" (Patricia T. O''Conner, author of Woe Is I). When Robert Graves and Alan Hodge decided to collaborate on this manual for writers, the world was in total upheaval. Graves had fled Majorca three years earlier at the start of the Spanish Civil War, and as they labored over their new project, they witnessed the fall of France and the evacuation of Allied forces at Dunkirk. Soon the horror of World War II would reach British soil as well, as the Luftwaffe began bombing London in an effort to destroy the resolve of the English people. Graves and Hodge believed that at a time when their whole world was falling apart, the survival of English prose sentences—of writing that was clear, concise, and intelligible—had become paramount if hope were going to outlive the onslaught. They came up with forty-one principles for writing, the majority devoted to clarity, the remainder to grace of expression. They studied the prose of a wide range of noted authors and leaders, finding much room for improvement. Successful communication could mean the difference between war and peace, life and death, and they were determined to contribute to its survival. The importance of good writing continues today, as obfuscation, propaganda, manipulative language, and sloppy standards are all too common—and this classic guide is just as useful and important as ever. Note: This edition restores the full, original 1943 text. "To see what really expert mavens can do in applying their rule-based expertise to clearing up bad prose, get hold of a copy of The Reader Over Your Shoulder." —The Atlantic

First published in the 1400s, these classic tales of King Arthur, Camelot, and adventures of the Knights of the Round Table are translated and presented in this edition that features a new introduction written by Nobel Prize nominee Robert Graves (I, Claudius).

The Nazarene Gospel Restored is Robert Graves''s major work on the life of Jesus, written in collaboration with the distinguished Hebrew scholar Joshua Podro. The research and writing occupied them for over ten years, in a working relationship compounded, in John W. Presley''s phrase, ''of argument, scholarship and mutual respect'', in which the imaginative writer and the Hebraist drew on their vast knowledge of the ancient world to reveal an extraordinary new, ''true'' story of Jesus. The result is, as Graves wrote to T.S. Eliot, ''a very long, very readable, very strange book'', and one that Presley argues is as central to Graves''s thought as The White Goddess. The Nazarene Gospel Restored was controversial when first published: the Church Times refused to advertise it, reviews were hostile, and Graves twice sued for libel. In the twenty-first century it is possible to read it in the context of a continuing engagement with the historical Jesus, both scholarly and popular. In this new edition, John W. Presley gives a detailed account of the composition and reception of the book, setting it in the context of Graves''s writing and of biblical scholarship. The inclusion of Graves''s Foreword and annotations for a project revised edition make this an indispensable resource.