Review: Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall by Adrian Goldsworthy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I took this book on knowing nothing about Hadrian’s Wall. I found it interesting in the level of detail – not too much, not too little. There’s not a lot of detail known about the wall. There are the measurements and descriptions of the wall from current times. There are mentions of the wall in historical documents, as well as the soldiers that patrolled the wall and the townspeople that supported the soldiers. There is plenty of conjecture about the wall’s use – not so much a defense for battle but a way to slow down attackers and force traffic through toll gates. I enjoyed that story, as well as the descriptions of Legionnaires in the society at the time of the wall. I listened on audio. I believe reading the book, assuming it had good pictures, would be more worthwhile, but on audio you still get the descriptions.

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