Hadrian’s Wall. A Life. By Richard Hingley. 16 x 24  cm. xx + 394pp, 109 b&w pls and figs. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-19-964141-3.

Price: £75.00 hb.

This book takes the reader on a journey from fifth century onwards to unravel layers of ever evolving meaning attached to the Wall as exemplified by prose, poetry, art myth and oral history. The book is aimed at wide audience; visitors, academics and the people of Hadrian’s Wall counties, reflecting Hingley’s call for inclusivity in the creation of interpretations of the Wall.

Hingley first sets out his theoretical premise – creating a chorographic narrative of the Wall that weaves through its Roman past with the multiplicity of later interpretations to present the Wall as one living, multifaceted entity. Main chapter examine evidence from three periods in the post-Roman lives of the Wall…