Winter Quarters, by Alfred Duggan
Winter Quarters is a classic piece of historical fiction first published in 1956, written by Alfred Duggan, a prolific author and contemporary of Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Powell at Oxford; and in the interests of reading an author who has influenced many modern historical novelists, I thought it would be a worthy read. I was right.
Winter Quarters tells the story of two young Gaulish noblemen in the time of the First Triumvirate, from the perspective of one of them, Camul. An ill-omened event involving the Goddess of their native land takes place and Camul’s friend Acco regards himself as cursed. They decide that if they must leave, they will join the Roman army as cavalry auxiliaries, fight for the Romans and see the world. Initially serving with Julius Caesar in Gaul, they come under the command of Publius Crassus, son of the Triumvir and richest man in Rome, Marcus Licinius Crassus – so when Crassus assembles an army to occupy Syria, the province he has been given to rule, and then to invade neighbouring Parthia, the Gaulish cavalry are along for the adventure, an invasion that is conceived almost entirely with the objective of obtaining plunder and enhancing its general’s personal prestige.
The conceit of the Gauls’ attachment to the young Crassus provides Duggan with an opportunity to take them on a tour of half the Roman Empire: in Gaul they fight on the German frontier, before they journey to Rome and experience the politics of the Republic, then head via Greece to Syria, mount a mission to Jerusalem and then in to Parthia as part of Crassus’ invasion force. Wherever they go, Acco is on the lookout for evidence of the Goddess who cursed him, and discovers that she is always lurking somewhere below the surface. The bad end to which the invasion came has been the subject of other novels, including Ben Kane’s The Forgotten Legion, and is lucidly and evocatively described by Duggan.
Duggan’s writing seems ahead of its time, and stylistically there is very little to give away the fact that this book is over fifty years old. To deliver a tour of so much of the Roman Empire in under 250 pages, and to do it so engagingly, with such a genuine sense of the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity that the Empire encompassed, is a great achievement. It’s not difficult to see why this writer and this book are so influential.
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The Bookgeeks Interview
Mark Oldfield
Mark Oldfield has worked in criminological research for over 20 years. He has a PhD in Criminology from the University of Kent and has carried out research in the areas of risk assessment and prediction and as well as evaluative research on policing, prisons and probation. He has also taught in various Universities on research, crime and criminal justice.
2 Comments on Winter Quarters, by Alfred Duggan
Good to see a review of a Duggan book !
I read this one, last year as part of my ongoing attempt to read as many of his books as I can. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can only agree with the reviewer that it is a great achievement to cover so much so well in a short book.
It kept my attention all the time with its diversity of locations, fine descriptions, simple, buy realistic conversations, and the thread of the maligned goddess’ influence running through it.
Ben Ken’s Forgotten Legion does involve the same events that Duggan covers, but the association is limited as Duggan far exceeds him in writing skill and endeavours, and his Forgotten Legion book is poor fare.
My favourite Duggan is easily “Conscience of the King”. My father owned it and I read it back in the 70′s. I re-read when I learned that it was one of Duggan’s re-published novels and enjoyed it even more as an adult, with its possibly anarchic view of the founding of Wessex and England. Truly a marvellous read, and a mystery that in this age of “realism” it hasn’t been snapped up a made into a film !
Lady for Ransom and Lord Geoffrey’s Fancy were equally entertaining and from an unusual period of history. Family Favourites a brilliant evocation of a minor official in a collapsing Roman Britain ( by which I repaid a the debt to my Father by letting him read it on a shared holiday ! ).
I have Cunning of the Dove on my shelf for when I am next ready, and am searching for a copy of Count Bohemond as another teenage link, since after Conscience of the King, I actually bought Count Bohemond ( probably for 50p in the NEL edition ! ) and became totally immersed in the Crusades.
I am sure that Duggan’s novel have contributed to my lifelong History interest and am very pleased to see him reach a new and wider audience !
Since Roman Britain has come up, a final mention for another, and similar, neglected author. Goerge Shipway’s Imperial Governor has been on of the highlights of recent month reading, and I would relish his other novels being re-published as they are far too difficult to obtain !
I have to admit to having read quite a few of Alfred Duggans works over the years. And I have recently managed to get hold of Three’s Company which I have still to read. It may be worthwhile if you visited the following website and you can chat to a lot of the historical authors like Ben Kane and Manda Scott. It’s http://www.thehwa.co.uk
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