Roy Arthur Adkins (born 1951) and Lesley Adkins (born 1955) are English writers and archaeologists. They are members of the

Institute for Archaeologists The Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) is a professional organisation for archaeologists working in the United Kingdom and overseas. It was founded in 1982, and at 21 July 2020 had 3,931 members overall, of whom 3,033 were accredited ...

and fellows of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

. They have both written several books. Based in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, near Exeter, they devote much of their time to writing. Their first book was ''A Thesaurus of British Archaeology'', better known by its paperback title of ''The Handbook of British Archaeology''. They have written several other books on archaeological and historical themes, from detailed reference books to popular non-fiction. The latter includes ''The Keys of Egypt'', an account of Champollion's successful deciphering of ancient

Egyptian hieroglyphs Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1, ...

. They have also pursued individual writing projects – Lesley wrote ''Empires of the Plain: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon'', and Roy wrote ''Trafalgar: The Biography of a Battle'' (US title ''Nelson's Trafalgar'').

Biography

Roy was born and raised in Maidenhead, Berkshire, He was educated at

University College, Cardiff , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

, gaining a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in archaeology whilst spending vacations on digs mainly at the Roman town of

Usk Usk ( cy, Brynbuga) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks th ...

in south Wales. After obtaining his degree, he worked as a field archaeologist in Milton Keynes, and later at a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

site at

Beddington Beddington is a suburban settlement in the London Borough of Sutton on the boundary with the London Borough of Croydon. Beddington is formed from a village of the same name which until early the 20th century still included land which became t ...

near

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

with Lesley. Lesley was born in 1955 in Eastbourne. She obtained degrees in archaeology, ancient history, and Latin at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, and her

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

degree at the University of Surrey. After graduating she worked as an assistant archaeologist on excavations in Milton Keynes before meeting Roy and moving to South London. They married in 1978. They both worked as field archaeologists for the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall Museum (fou ...

and later became freelance archaeological consultants, authors, and editors. After 2000 they moved to Devon and began to write full-time.

Work

*''Jack Tar: Life in Nelson's Navy'' *''Trafalgar: The Biography of a Battle'' *''The War for All the Oceans: From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo'' *''Empires of the Plain: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon'' *''The Keys of Egypt: The Race to Read the Hieroglyphs'' *''The Handbook of British Archaeology'' *''Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome'' *''Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece'' *''The Little Book of Egyptian Hieroglyphs'' *''Dictionary of Roman Religion'' *''Introduction to the Romans'' *''A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology'' *''Talking Archaeology: A Handbook for Lecturers and Organisers'' *''Abandoned Places'' *''An Introduction to Archaeology'' *''Archaeological Illustration'' *''Under the Sludge. Beddington Roman Villa'' * ''Jane Austen's England'' * ''When There Were Birds''

Reception

A review in ''

Navy News ''Navy News'' is the official newspaper of the British Royal Navy, produced by a small team of editorial and support staff and published by the Ministry of Defence on a monthly basis. The content of the newspaper is varied, ranging from informati ...

'' stated that "Roy and Lesley Adkins possess that rare knack among historians: merging the academic with the narrative and providing a riveting read which also casts light where it is dark."

Popular culture

''Trafalgar: The Biography of a Battle'' made an appearance at Christmas in the comedy programme ''

Peep Show A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the c ...

'' (series 7 episode 5), when Mark (played by David Mitchell) receives a copy of the book as a present from his flatmate Jeremy (played by

Robert Webb Robert Patrick Webb (born 29 September 1972) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is one half of the double act Mitchell and Webb, alongside David Mitchell. Webb and Mitchell both starred in the Channel 4 sitco ...

). "I heard you talking about it", comments Jeremy, to which Mark replies, "That's just tremendously thoughtful Jeremy".

References

External links

Authors' website

Authors' Top 10 Nelson Books

Jack Tar Readers Reviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adkins, Roy and Lesley English archaeologists Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Living people Married couples Writing duos Year of birth missing (living people)