Spartacus, first published in 1933, is an inspiring and powerful account of the uprising of the slaves against the Roman Empire in 73BC, led by the gladiator Spartacus. For Karl Marx, Spartacus was: 'the most splendid fellow that all ancient history has to show; great general, noble character, real representative of the ancient proletariat.' For Grassic Gibbon, a lifelong Marxist International and successful historian of early civilisations, Spartacus allowed him to focus on his fiercely held belief's in the nature of society, the freedom of the individual, and the ineveitable collapse of 'civilisation'

Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Slave revolt, Romans