One of the most interesting writers of children's historical novels today is Rosemary Sutcliff; her new book, The Eagle of the Ninth, seems to me a work of real distinction. It concerns a young Roman's first few years in Britain, and his journey into the Caledonian north, after a wound has put him out of Army service, to see if any trace can be found of the mysteriously vanished Ninth Legion. Second-century Britain may not seem an enticing period; yet Miss Sutcliff writes so evocatively and well, and with so skilful an avoidance of pitfalls, that I would recommend her book not only to older boys and girls but to any adult who likes, in reading, the serious historical story, the enigma and the quest.

Rosemary Sutcliff 1920– Courtesy of Murray Pollinger Literary Agency

Naomi Lewis, "The Young Supernaturalist," in The New Statesman & Nation (© 1954 The Statesman & Nation Publishing Co...