The Quest For the Lost Roman Legions: Discovering the Varus Battlefield

Rating:
Summary: Simply excellent
Review: I really wanted to give this book 5 stars. My imagination had long been captured by the topic of Arminius' defeat of three Roman legions under Varus in 9 AD, especially after reading Theodor Mommsen's account of the events in a reprint of "The Provinces of Rome" (which I highly recommend to Roman history enthusiasts though I think it is long out of print). So when I heard about Tony Clunn's book I knew immediately I had to have it. And it is excellent in most respects - a first hand account of a dedicated amateur's relentless search for the exact location of the destruction of Varus' legions. I read this through almost at a single sitting - it was that compelling, at least for me.

However, there are a couple of glitches that keep me from awarding 5 starts. First, the maps are inadequate. Much of the story relates the author's patient explorations of farmer's fields with a metal detector. As the story unfolds, a clear pattern of Roman artifacts (primarily coins) emerges. Unfortunately, no detailed map of the area of these searches is included, at least not one showing the locations of many of the author's "breakthrough" finds. There is a map of the overall Kalkriese region, but it is so poorly reproduced as to be unreadable. There are also a couple of decent sketch maps of the route taken by Varus and the location of his troops' final destruction, but ultimately I was left hungry for more.

Also, on occasion, I felt that the text was a bit disjointed, and it wasn't always clear why Clunn decided to search in different locations, sometimes far removed from the actual location of the battle. Possibly this is because the copy I read was an English language version published in the UK and purchased from the .uk Amazon site. Other reviewers have noted that the German language version is expanded.

Finally, I wasn't 100% enamored of the fictionalized retelling of the story which is woven into the modern day narrative. I found it a bit melodramatic and dubious at times.

But these are minor quibbles - the author's fresh writing style, his obvious enthusiasm for his quest, and the irresistible fascination of the subject matter itself all combine to make this an excellent read - highly recommended. [...]