Narrated by Zara Ramm
The Chronicles of St. Mary's
Roman Holiday follows Dr. Max and her team as they go to investigate Julius Caesar, his wife Calpurnia and his mistress, Cleopatra, just a few short weeks before the Ides of March.
We see more of the utter lunatic brilliance of Max's team as they campaign to get the assignment, as well as how they deal with Roman social structures and political pressures, and the utter lunacy of a man who wants to rule the world bringing his Egyptian mistress to his wife's home and expecting his wife to be a good hostess. Max and her team are only there to "observe," but somehow they are there when someone makes an assassination attempt ... but they're not sure who the target is.
Of course, the strangers in town are fingered for the job, and they have to run for their lives. And that's only the first half of the story. Great fun, as I've come to expect from Jodi Taylor and her very proper and yet eccentric team of time traveling historians.
The Battersea Barricades gives a glimpse into an event in recent history -- at least, from the perspective of near-future England and the occupants of St. Mary's. Max only meant to drop off a schedule, but ended up being invited to drink wine and listen to reminiscences about the civil uprising several decades before. Three very prim and proper ladies who are the backbone of St. Mary's get together on the anniversary of the Battersea Barricades to salute those who died ... and they get to talking, revealing frightening and funny moments in the struggle of would-be rebels to get to London to participate in a rebellion. Only they keep getting lost.
Delicious, funny, thought-provoking, with that lovely dry British wit. Do yourself a favor and indulge.
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