The Bridge Builders

by Rosemary Sutcliff

First published 1959

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2.5(5)

Roman Britain, during the great programme of frontier construction associated with Hadrian’s Wall. Androphon, the young son of a fort commander in western Britain, disobeys orders and follows a stray hound into the hills. He is captured by the British chieftain Kyndylan, who is resisting Roman attempts to build a signal tower and expose the location of his people.

The boy becomes a hostage in a confrontation where each side understands the other chiefly as an obstacle. Military engineering, local knowledge and parental fear make the dispute more complicated than a simple clash between Rome and Britain. The short novel asks whether the structures that secure an empire can also become bridges between communities, and what individual courage can achieve when adults are trapped by duty.