Lot #137: 1996 Historical Fiction Book - "I Claudius" and "Claudius the God" (One-Volume) by Robert Graves

Trade Paperback. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. 841 pp. "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God" are the two constituent novels of Robert Graves’s definitive fictional autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, originally published in 1934. The 1986 Penguin Books edition is a significant "omnibus" or matching-set reissue, coinciding with the popularity of the 1976 BBC television adaptation starring Derek Jacobi. Written as a "secret history" discovered centuries later, the narrative follows the stuttering, physically frail Claudius as he survives the murderous intrigues of the Julio-Claudian dynasty—witnessing the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and the mad Caligula—before being unexpectedly elevated to the throne himself. Graves blends rigorous classical scholarship with a gripping, modern prose style, portraying Claudius as a shrewd political survivor and a reluctant autocrat in an era of absolute corruption. A cornerstone of 20th-century historical fiction. Dimensions: 20 cm Pickup category timeslot {A}