"Grendel prowled in, hating all men and all joy and hungry for human life. So swift was his attack that no man heard an outcry; but when the dawn came, thirty of Hothgar's best and noblest thanes were missing.
Only Beowulf, foremost among warriors, has the strength and courage to battle with Grendel the Night-stalker.
In this thrilling re-telling of the Anglo-Saxon legend, Rosemary Sutcliff recounts Beowulf's most terrifying quests: against Grendel the man-wolf, against the hideous sea-hag and, most courageous of all - his fight to the death with the monstrous fire-drake."
"A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Rosemary Sutcliff’s much-loved tale of honour, comradeship and courage. Somewhere around the year 117AD, a Roman garrison called the Ninth Legion was ordered to put down an uprising among the Caledonian tribes. Four thousand men vanished without trace into the swirling mist of the north of Roman Britain. Many years after their disappearance a young centurion, Marcus Aquila, decides to discover the truth about what happened to the legion and to its First Cohort Commander - his father. This gripping dramatisation tells the story of Marcus’ often perilous journey as he searches to solve the mystery, and to bring back the symbol of the lost legion’s honour - their standard, the Eagle of the Ninth. Now adapted as a major motion picture - ‘The Eagle’, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell and Donald Sutherland - ‘The Eagle of the Ninth’ is a timeless tale that will thrill all listeners. This recording was previously available on cassette."
"Roman Britain: Marcus Flavius Aquila, a young centurion is forced into retirement after a wound in his first major engagement against a rebel British tribe. It allows him the freedom to embark upon a dangerous mission to find out what happened to the Ninth Legion which, years before, disappeared in the savage lands of the Picts. Will he find out what happened to the men, led by his father, who never returned? And will he recover the Eagle, the symbol of Roman dominance and power? This junior classic has never been out of print since it was first published over fifty years ago. It is now presented in a fresh abridgement read in exciting manner by Charlie Simpson."
