Echolands : A Journey in Search of Boudica

by Duncan Mackay

Almost 2000 years ago, Boudica led the greatest rebellion Britain has ever seen. Within the space of a single blood-soaked year, she united the tribes to deliver blow after devastating blow to the Roman regime, culminating in a brutal, decisive battle.

Archaeologist Duncan Mackay has spent a lifetime on the trail of Boudica. Beginning near his home in Norfolk, in the heart of Boudica's tribal territory, he embarks on a journey in the footsteps of Romans and Britons, exploring their villages, towns, forts and roads. The passage of two millennia has buried the world that Boudica knew, but Duncan finds that its echoes and physical traces still surround us - as long as you know where to look. The armies marched along the roads we still use, and died in their thousands in towns, cities and countryside where we still live today. The site of Boudica's last battle was long believed be lost to time, but the threads of the story all pull towards one remarkable, forgotten little corner of the English landscape.

From the Breckland of Norfolk to the back streets of Colchester, from the remotest corner of Anglesey to the depths of the London Underground, Duncan takes us back two thousand years to retell the story of Britain's bloodiest year. Fusing ancient history, modern excavation, landscape exploration, and vivid reconstruction, Echolands weaves the long-lost tapestry of Boudica's war.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Archaeology, Travel, Book Club, British Literature

346 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[DC Merryweather]

One of the small details I appreciated in Duncan Mackay's lyrical narrative history, attempting to trace the steps of Boudican revolt of 60AD in contemporary Britain, is that the author adopts a first-person perspective and puts himself in the shoes of the individuals of the time - literally, at one point, when he retraces the steps of a Roman legionary while wearing a pair of the open-toe infantry boots, the Caligae, marching past Costa Coffees and betting shops on aching feet, all the while trying to conjure the landscape and the atmosphere of 1st Century East Anglia.

Reading this straight after a biography (of sorts) of Oliver Cromwell, which was a perfectly fine if conventional historical account of events and dates, this, in addition to being a thorough and informed depiction of blood-soaked tribal Britannia under the hobnail-sandal of the Roman occupation, endeavours to provide insight into the perspectives of the Britons and Romans of 2,000 years ago based on the fragmentary pieces they left behind, which is more of what I'm looking for in history books.

[Lois]

An absolutely fascinating account of Boudica's rebellion against the Roman occupation of Britain, told through the archaeological sites that saw definite bloodshed (chiefly in and around Colchester and London) as well as potential sites as Mackay attempts to track down the elusive battlefield where Boudica made her last stand. The way Mackay writes is captivating and so visceral. Anyone who loves history is bound to be enthralled - he brings it to life in your hands.

[Aaron]

This was a great approach to a history we don't really know all that much about. Mackay traces the steps of the rebellion by actually walking in those places and looking at the landscape; he also tells us about the archaeological digs that have taken place in each. I particularly loved the Colchester section, it being my hometown I know all the spots he is talking about.

[Sal]

I really enjoyed this journey through the traces of Boudica in the British landscape.
I thought I knew the story of Boudica, but this book makes it real on a human scale. Duncan Mackay is so good at seeing past the modern view and imagining the hidden past histories. It was this wonder at previous lives and events that first drew me into history and archaeology, and now I want to visit all the places described and imagine them for myself. The writing reminds me of the landscape descriptions of Robert Macfarland and his musical collaboration with Johnny Flynn.
The horror of what happened on both sides is hard to imagine. Mackay's comparisons to the aftermath of events in the first world war are evocative and moving, although Towton in the War of the Roses seems a better comparison for large scale carnage on home soil and the starvation and dislocation that must follow the loss of so many local people.

It's always the sign of a good history book when I finish it and start looking at the bibliography for further reading. Time to dig out my old copy of Tacitus and head to Colchester!

[Simon Mee]

Echolands looks to solve the problem of limited narrative sources by getting out touching grass. And rocks. And coins. Mackay being an archaeologist allows him to have an eye for detail and an instinctive access to the discussions (along having been involved in the debates, such as the location of the Battle of Watling Street).

Having Tacitus and Dio is still immensely helpful but Mackay does not slavishly follow them, nor is he Roman friendly. Great insights into the era.

[Shahin Keusch]

During the early Roman Empire a queen of the Brits called Boudica led a rebellion against the Roman occupation of Britain. 

The author, an archeologist, spent a lifetime searching for any Echos of Boudica and her rebellion. 

Was a good read. Was basically an archeological travelog, following in the footsteps of Boudica and the Roman legions. 

[Alexandra]

I love a really good travel book. (Do I know what I mean by that? Not really. But apparently, from recent experience, it often includes at least a little bit of history.)

I also love good history books; and Roman/British/women centric is definitely up there as a favourite.

Echolands is fantastic.

An English archaeologist decides to visit all the can-actually-be-identified Boudica-associated sites. And discusses Tactius, Dio, and the archaeology (what's been found + the history of the finding - is there a word for historiography but it's archaeology?) along the way. Plus adds some appropriate personal aspects - both about the travelling (some by foot, some by bicycle, some by car, some by train), his career, and occasionally his family. Plus some reflections on the modern physical landscape, and what Boudica means today.

It's 300 pages long, and it's extremely readable.

There are many aspects I found fascinating, but one that really stood out is his experimentation with caligae - the hobnailed "sandals" Roman soldiers wore, often - yes - with socks. His conclusion? Incredibly comfortable and sensible for long treks - especially on gravel and other such surfaces, not on tarmac and other such formed surfaces where the nails get little grip. Having heard just a little bit about things like trench foot, just the fact of airflow makes a lot of sense!

Mostly I was enchanted by the way he visits places like the castle at Colchester, and then also places that look completely unremarkable (weird little lakes created by peat mining in WW2), talks about why those spots were so important in the Boudica story, and presents the history of archaeological discovery in the area.

You don't need to have any Roman or Iron Age British history knowledge to appreciate this.

[Claire Baxter]

I wanted to like this but found it a bit of a slog. It was written in an accessible and entertaining way so should have been enjoyable. But I think where it fell down for me was that it jumped around in time a lot - from the battle and the primary sources, to early archaeology, to the author's own travels. This might not have mattered if you were to sit down and read a chapter at a time. But the chapters were really long so that was difficult to find time up so, and when reading it in shorter bursts I kept getting a bit lost with where we were and what was going on and struggled to get into the flow of it.

[Tom Buteux]

Really enjoyed this one. Particularly the archeological focus.

[Rik]

This is good. Not my kind of thing but it works. The history is brilliant, thorough examination of the archeology and how it fits with the limited sources for the period. However it is also combined with the authors description of the landscape and places and how they appear in modern times and also his own meandering through them...with family, friends and his dog. This shit usually annoys me but he does a good job of it and by the mid way point i found myself begrudgingly not minding it. He also paints evocative descriptions of the scenarios of the past - again not my favourite tool of popular history books but again he does a bang-up job and i ended up liking it all the same, though they can be a bit repetitive. I usually detest books of this kind and i only gave it a punt as it was 99p on kindle but it turned out to be a fairly enjoyable book on Boudica.

[Juliette]

Rating : 4 ⭐
This book was an interesting mix of history, archaeology and auto-biographical elements. I liked getting into the history of the different archaeological discoveries that shaped our understanding of this series of events. The author narrated the audiobook and did a great job.

[Jo]

Mackay travels the areas that featured in the Boudiccan revolt to see if there is any clue left behind. Fascinating look at the time of the rebellion using Latin sources and archaeological discoveries.

[Jack Bates]

The best kind of popular history; entertaining, well-researched, beautifully written and personal in exactly the right way. Mackay explores (sometimes on foot in Roman marching sandals, fair play) the routes taken (or potentially taken) by Boudica and her troops, in fire and blood, from Colchester to London to St Albans and onward into defeat, as well as those of the unfortunate Ninth Legion and Paulinus at the head of the Twentieth and Fourteenth tramping back from slaughtering the druids at Ynys Mon. If you've any interest in Iron Age Britain or the Roman colonisation, modern and less-modern interpretations of Tacitus and archaeology generally this is highly recommended.


I remember buying my copy of Sutcliff's Song for a Dark Queen (in Hammick's when it was on Wote Street) when I was maybe ten. I'd read various of her other books already, and of course I knew who Boudica was because I was very much That Sort of Child. I've always found the title extremely powerful and the book had a profound impact on my imagination.

There is something different in reading historical fiction when you know the outcome, of course, and I suppose most people reading it will have always known the outcome. (This makes me think of Sarah's surprise when Bobby Kennedy got shot when we went to see JFK.) So this is a story that tells you things about rebellion and invasion and fighting people with better weapons and more effective military organisation that you can see repeated endlessly right up until, well, this morning and tomorrow. Mackay uses the example of the Indian Mutiny to talk about the aftershocks of events of this kind and reading it in January 2025 provides numerous ongoing 'future historical events' to think about. He's right that the resultant destruction of the Iceni doesn't look like a good deal, with hindsight, but he's also right that no one would remember Boudica if she'd put up and shut up. His descriptions of battlefields piled with bodies are extremely evocative and a reminder that people have always been very good at killing one another in large numbers.


NB It took me a while to read it because of the hols and playing Baldur's Gate on the Switch - it is in fact very pacy and page-turny.

[Toni Kely-Brown]

Boudica is one of those figures of history who has been called a feminist, warrior or a terrorist! She famously united a number of Briton tribes against the Roman colonisers in 60AD after her husband died and the Romans whipped her and raped her daughters.

The author is an archaeologist who writes the story of Boudica as part memoir as he walks the trail of Boudica’s journey from her tribal territory (now Norfolk) to Londinium and the battles along the way. It was brutal times, and how men, women and children were tortured, killed or sold into slavery was hard at times given its so far removed from our contemporary morals and ethics of “war”.

I liked the story, but the author has written this book for a local British audience. When describing his journey, he assumes the reader knows the landscapes, street names and buildings he’s describing. It made it difficult to remain engaged in the story at times when I couldn’t visual these locations. I think this approach will date this book for future readers as the towns and landscapes he describes continue and evolve with time.

[Ann]

I love this book! I love the way Duncan Mackay describes the present day landscape then takes us back to how these places may have looked at the time of the Boudican revolt, using Tacitus and Dio as the main sources., and explaining the archeology which has been found to date. There is so much about Boudica that is unknown, and the author doesn't try to fill in these gaps, he merely puts forward plausible theories, but also refers to other theories which may have merit. It is a very balanced view on the whole, which not only explains the violence towards Boudica which was the catalyst for her revolt, but shows us how it might have felt from the Roman side, to see their towns burning and their civilians butchered.

[Finn]

A journey following in the footsteps of Boudica's Briton army and Paulinus running to and fro to exact Roman expansion.

It reads like a travelguide to Iceni lands where Romans tried and occasionally failed to overrun the people who lived there. In the end they won victory but not at a cost, on both sides.

Duncan takes you on a trip to all the places of significance to the Boudican revolt, such as Londinium (London) and Camulodunum (Colchester), which the revolt burned to the ground. He also follows in the footsteps of the Roman legions, for example the fate of the IXth Hispanic legion, or what occured on Mona (Anglesey).

It's brilliantly written and I loved to read it.
I will re-read it at least once more to organize a trip back to Colchester and follow in those same footsteps.

[Colin]

This is an outstanding historical travelogue. It takes the reader on a journey around the sites - actual or supposed - of the rebellion of Boudica in Britain of AD60. Duncan Mackay offers a clear narrative of the events but also brings colour and power to a fairly familiar story by describing, as he sees them, the places concerned. There are moving personal anecdotes and reminiscences along the way, which make this a very powerful and informative account. It is also properly referenced and flags all the key sources, primary and secondary, of which we are aware. This book is strongly recommended.

[George Penn]

What a book!

This book is one of the few I have read about Roman Britain that lives up to the enchantment, mystery, brutality, and myth that captivated me as a child and since. In fact, not only does it live up to it, it exceeds it.

Part travel book, part ramblers guide, part archaeological note, part historical retelling, this one is an absolute pleasure of a read - and would be my go-to-recommendation for anyone interested in Roman Britain. Beautifully written, it weaves in just enough nerdy archaeology, with a retelling of the history, modern comparisons, and modern descriptions of the sites.

[A M Booth]

Duncan Mckay takes a journey around Britain to retrace the route of Boudica and her nemesis Paulinus.

By following in their footsteps McKay is able to bring their story alive brilliantly.

McKay's background in iron age/early Roman archaeology gives him your academic chops to put what he finds in context.

He makes the book very autobiographical in places and I am not sure this works. It dilutes the core story and provides a lot of diversions. I think this probably cost it a star in my rating.

I liked his attempt to locate the place of the great battle, and to explain what happened.

[Amanda Frost]

Drawing on the latest archaeological evidence and the writings of ancient commentators such as Tacitus and Dio, this book recreates the events surrounding Boudica's rebellion in AD 60/61. Drawing on the author's own expert knowledge and exploration of the real landscapes, it's an increasingly compelling and moving exploration of how it might have felt for the people involved, whether native Briton or Roman incomer. Part history book and part travelogue, if you're a fan of the type of psychogeography pioneered by Iain Sinclair then this book is well worth a read.

[Andrew Hickey]

I really enjoyed this book. An archaeological investigation into Boudicca, the Iceni revolt against Roman colonists, and the Roman revenge. Precious little archeological evidence appears to exist for the various theories about the revolt and its logistics, however Mackay weaves a convincing journey through the landscape of England and the events... some of the details not for the queasy or feint of heart!

[A.M. Swink]

The book was well-written and compelling, tracking the locations across Britain that would or might have played a role in Boudica’s rebellion. The consideration of archaeology, topography, and Tacitus are combined. The imagery employed by the author’s actual journey through these lands adds additional poignancy to the research.

He may not have completely convinced me on his proposed site for the battle of Watling Street, but he argued his case well.

[Rowdy Geirsson]

So I thought this book was fantastic. And I’ll start with that being on a thematic level: the combination of personal journey, travelogue antics, and ancient history/archaeology has my number. And it’s well done so no shortcomings on that account.

The joy of a book like this is it grounds you in the present with a relatable narrator and also proceeds to give you all the details of historic events (and the locations they occurred, no less important) in a digestible manner even for the uninformed, which for Iron Age Britain is me. You get as good of an understanding of what happened during Boudica’s revolt as is possible in this day and age in a charming way. A curt rundown of events and dates this is not, thankfully. And as mentioned, I appreciated the writing style. The book would not be out of place on a shelf with titles by Max Adams, and while I have nothing but respect for his insights and expertise, his style always tends to be dry and too meandering/erratic for my taste. That is not the case here hence the higher star rating.

I believe the book is only available in the UK via standard retailers and this leads me to my one minor quibble: anyone not from (or very familiar with southeastern England) may find themselves lost with the various neighborhood and roadway references. I’m not British and don’t know them myself, so reading about the A-whatever didn’t register (though I did look up just about everywhere I didn’t recognize via online maps as I’m like that). This should not deter you from reading it but just FYI.

All in all, a fantastic, well-written read about Rome’s dark early days: essentially, anarchy in the ancient UK.

[Robyn G….y]

Not really a book that I would normally read, so my star rating does reflect that. It is more an autobiographical account by the archaeologist and author Duncan Mackay as he retraces the steps on the fate of Boudica and the Great War between the Briton’s and the Roman’s in AD60. A book more suitable to a topographer or war historian than this reader.

[Katherine]

Fascinating look at the Iceni uprising of 60A.D.. The book is a curious mixture of history and archaeology peppered with a personal travelogue of the relevant sites. It gives a refreshing view of boots (or callegae) on the ground, giving the reader a chance to 'feel' what what we know happened, rather than just read a series of dates. I found the section about Colchester especially moving.

[Izzy Matthews]

Not what I was expecting- struggled to stay focused when reading it. I thought it would be a closer narrative of Boudicca but it was more memoir like of the author and not very precise. However, that is due to the nature of the story and I did enjoy the bits about archeology- the burning of London and the artefacts found.

[Peter Kilburn]

a wonderful read- part history, part travelogue and in many areas speculative -though such speculation is based on the author's background as an archaeologist . I knew that Boudicca destroyed Colchester (anyone who has lived there knows that part of her story) but the rest was largely new to me- the book has ignited a desire to know more about the Roman occupation of my country

[Liv Hunter]

3.5
I cannot help but feel that I would have enjoyed this book so much more if I had even a passing interest in cartography or capacity to visualise routes. I was not the intended audience for those parts. However, the descriptions of Duncan walking in his replica caligae sandals? Phenomenal. Also, some really beautiful passages and descriptions of the landscape more than pacified me.

[Kerry Hennigan]

This is for me the perfect blend of history, archaeology and travelogue, following the life of the Iceni queen Boudica and the trail of destruction she blazed from Colchester to London to St Albans in AD 60-61. It concludes with the tantalizing mystery of where she and her army made their final stand against the Romans.

[Andrew Morrison]

The history about Boudica's revolt is interesting and well told, and the connection to the modern landscape is a nice touch. But I could have done without the autobiographical details for the most part. Fine to set the stage at the start, or in the conclusion, but I am not interested in the details of how hard the hike was, or what things he told his wife about roman sandals when they were first dating. It's a bit similar to the Alice Roberts book I read last year. This kind of stuff seems more like it was written to be adapted as a TV special, but it just didn't get green lit.