Duncan Mackay

Duncan Mackay is an archaeologist with a love of landscape and stories.  He believes that every place, indoors or out, urban, rural or wild, has its own link with the past, and a unique tale to tell.

Duncan worked in archaeology for nearly two decades, predominantly with the University of Cambridge Archaeological Unit.  He left full-time work to be a stay-at-home dad and pursue his own research.

He lives in Norfolk with his wife, son and soppy Black Labrador, indulging his passion for walking marshes and deserted beaches, and hurling himself into freezing rivers at dawn.  He likes hares.  And hedgehogs.

Echolands: A Journey in Search of Boudica is his first solo book.

Latest publication ECHOLANDS: A Journey in Search of Boudica - Hodder & Stoughton - April 2023

Almost 2000 years ago, Boudica led the greatest rebellion Britain has ever seen. Within the space of a single blood-soaked year, she united the tribes to deliver blow after devastating blow to the Roman regime, culminating in a brutal, decisive battle.

Archaeologist Duncan Mackay has spent a lifetime on the trail of Boudica. Beginning near his home in Norfolk, in the heart of Boudica's tribal territory, he embarks on a journey in the footsteps of Romans and Britons, exploring their villages, towns, forts and roads. The passage of two millennia has buried the world that Boudica knew, but Duncan finds that its echoes and physical traces still surround us - as long as you know where to look. The armies marched along the roads we still use, and died in their thousands in towns, cities and countryside where we still live today. The site of Boudica's last battle was long believed be lost to time, but the threads of the story all pull towards one remarkable, forgotten little corner of the English landscape.

From the Breckland of Norfolk to the back streets of Colchester, from the remotest corner of Anglesey to the depths of the London Underground, Duncan takes us back two thousand years to retell the story of Britain's bloodiest year. Fusing ancient history, modern excavation, landscape exploration, and vivid reconstruction, Echolands weaves the long-lost tapestry of Boudica's war.

Praise for ECHOLANDS

‘I loved it.  ECHOLANDS is a brilliant imagining of the past. Mackay`s knowledge is profound, but lightly worn, his writing elegant and witty, and his enthusiasm infectious. A joy to read.’ Harry Sidebottom

‘Through his rich storytelling, Mackay unravels the story of Boudica's revolt, expertly patching together the written sources with the archaeological evidence and modern recollections. By retracing the final steps of this formidable leader, he brings the world she inhabited to life through the eyes of an archaeologist. The result is an evocative, authoritative, and personal account coupled with rich storytelling: Echolands brilliantly reminds us how to locate the past in the present.’ Cat Jarman

‘Duncan has written a masterpiece – a journey and an investigation that fuses landscape and history, chasing the echoes of Boudica’s rebellion and finding its physical traces that still surround us today.’ Nicholas Crane

'Thoroughly researched and well-written, this is simply a very good read, one informed by its author’s long experience of archaeological fieldwork. Mackay has a well-honed eye for landscape, and is strong when exploring the nuances of site-find assemblages.' The Past

'I found Echolands hard to put down! Mackay’s scholarship is laced with a vividness of imagination that gives this theatre of war such a powerful voice that it catapults the reader into the past as though it were yesterday. Anyone at all interested in the great war between Boudica’s warriors and the might of the Roman army needs to read this book.' Professor Miranda Aldhouse-Green

'His narrative is absorbing … Its energy and originality derive from [Mackay’s] efforts to show that Boudica’s lost world lies tantalisingly close to our own – literally just a few inches beneath our feet – and can be revealed to us if we only know how and where to look.' BBC History Magazine

‘The places that Mackay visits, traverses and dwells in are vividly described as a conscious attempt to revive the past as lived experience. Such an endeavour is to be applauded and there are real moments of joy and insight.’ History Today

'Echolands is writer and archaeologist Duncan Mackay’s personal mission to get to the heart of the Boudicca legend that has fascinated him for a lifetime … Mackay’s journey takes him from his native Norfolk to Colchester, Anglesey and even the London Underground. And throughout it all, Boudicca’s echoes resonate.' Observer