Echolands: A Journey in Search of Boudica

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The places that Mackay visits, traverses and dwells in are vividly described as a conscious attempt to revive the past as lived experience. Fusing ancient history, modern excavation, landscape exploration, and vivid reconstruction, Echolands weaves the long-lost tapestry of Boudica's war.

Echolands by Duncan Mackay | Book review | The TLS Echolands by Duncan Mackay | Book review | The TLS

He lives in Norfolk with his wife, son and soppy Black Labrador, indulging his passion for walking marshes and deserted beaches, and hurling himself into freezing rivers at dawn. The places that Mackay visits, traverses and dwells in are vividly described as a conscious attempt to revive the past… there are real moments of joy and insight.References to recent archaeology far outweigh any appeals to history or literary studies, although it is those areas (and, arguably, anthropology), not archaeology, that would provide a more satisfying context. Duncan has written a masterpiece - a journey and an investigation that fuses landscape and history, chasing the echoes of Boudica's rebellion and finding its physical traces that still surround us today. But part of the durability of the Boudica tradition lies in its potential for reimagining and reinterpretation for reasons other than the weight of evidence. According to the biographical blurb, Mackay lives in Norfolk, so there is an element of proximity and convenience that is rather too obvious. Mackay’s speculation that many of Camulodunum’s citizens would have fled to the temple to escape – in vain – the wrath of the Britons, is conjured in detail.

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He believes that every place, indoors or out, urban, rural or wild, has its own link with the past, and a unique tale to tell.Mackay’s imagined scenarios about what may or may not have happened in any given place during her rebellion are arresting and form some of the book’s best material, but are speculative.

Duncan Mackay | Hachette UK Duncan Mackay | Hachette UK

Mackay’s knowledge is profound, but lightly worn, his writing elegant and witty, and his enthusiasm infectious. Echolands’ is much more apt: the places that Mackay visits, traverses and dwells in are vividly described as a conscious attempt to revive the past as lived experience. He states that he wants to achieve a ‘sense of immediacy’ between the ancient past and the present, akin to that which can be found through film; a sense of the ‘past happening before our eyes’. If one really wanted to travel with Boudica, it would mean going deeper – and further – than Mackay goes.

Anyone at all interested in the great war between Boudica’s warriors and the might of the Roman army needs to read this book. An original, revelatory, enthralling narrative history of how Queen Boudica led the greatest rebellion Britain has ever seen. Mackay`s knowledge is profound, but lightly worn, his writing elegant and witty, and his enthusiasm infectious. Colchester is particularly rich in finds related to the Boudican rebellion and Mackay makes the most of them.