This short volume is the biography of Brenda Swinbank, one of the first women to gain a PhD in the archaeology of Roman Britain. Swinbank's main archaeological research interests lay in the construction and function of the Vallum along the line of Hadrian's Wall. Her archaeological work is described, intertwined with her daily life, by her daughter in-law, Suzanne Heywood. The author uses a series of sources, including conversations with Swinbank herself, lectures and papers, to inform a readable and engaging account.

The daughter of headmaster John Swinbank and teacher Gladys Wilson, Brenda Swinbank was born in 1929 in Ackworth, 150 miles south of Hadrian's Wall, and was brought up to excel in a school environment. At the age of 17, she was offered a place to study Modern History at Durham where she met Eric Birley, who inspired her to pursue her studies of the Vallum and became her mentor. When she was not occupied in archaeological research, school teaching represented a haven for Swinbank. She taught at Settle Girls High School while she was writing her PhD dissertation, and in Ackworth, after a research grant in South Wales ran out and academic employment in Durham did not materialise.

The early pages of the book depict a strong-willed character, focused on her research. However, archaeology faded into the background as her family life became more demanding following her marriage in 1959. She would return to archaeological work only much later, in 1974, when she and Derek Philips worked together on the post-excavation and reporting of the excavations at York's Minster, and when she finally published her studies on the Vallum in co-operation with David Breeze.

Although outwardly the years between 1959 and 1974 appeared to be a career hiatus, dedicated to childcare and care of elderly relatives, she continued her engagement with archaeology, via a rich correspondence with fellow archaeologists. While H.’s account depicts a woman who serenely accepted the secondary role that archaeology had taken in her life, Swinbank's archaeological correspondents are often mentioned, alongside the fact that she would regularly express to them her regret for not being able to publish or focus more on her research.

Swinbank's outward acceptance of the predominance of family life over her own academic work is one of the interesting aspects of this family memoir. Swinbank's temporary withdrawal from archaeology in favour of family life came just three years before the advent of second-wave feminism and the publication in 1963 of Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, a key piece of feminist literature advocating the importance of women's ambitions outside the realm of domesticity. It would have been interesting to have had some insight as to her thoughts and feelings regarding the sweeping changes in the role of women in society taking place between 1960 and 1970.

Swinbank's biography, albeit in a subtle and non-obtrusive way, stimulates thoughts on the relative improvement of women's standing and working conditions in archaeology, a topic touched upon in Claassen's Women in Archaeology (1994) and Díaz-Andreu and Stig Sørensen's Excavating Women: A History of Women in European Archaeology (1998). Both make for interesting complementary reading to H.’s book.

H.’s book attempts to provide a balanced account of Swinbank's life and work, but this is very much a family memoir, and Britannia readers would have benefited from a more in-depth discussion of the academic significance of her work. The illustrations, albeit touching, also focus on Swinbank's family life. Images of her work, such as post-excavation photos relating to the work at York or fieldwork illustrations, would have enhanced the narrative and provided a welcome focus on her achievements.

In conclusion, H.’s memoir is a touching tribute to an intelligent woman and dedicated researcher, who is less known than she should be. It is suitable for light reading and, on a more reflexive level, provides a stimulating contribution to the debate on the evolution of women's position in archaeological research.