It was originally excavated in the 1880s. This volume reports on a new programme of excavations carried out in 2008-10, whilst also delving into earlier work to provide context. The research involved a full re-excavation of the North Range, an examination of the buildings of the South Range by sample excavations, a detailed study of the extant remains of the West Range to establish the building sequence and a sample excavation of the early enclosures identified by geophysical survey to the east of the North Range. Barry Cunliffe's excavations at Brading Roman Villa on the Isle of Wight has been nominated for the 2014 Current Archaeology Research Project of the Year.

    In the autumn of 79 AD, as he approaches the end of his life, Cogidubnus reflects on his friendship with the emperors, Claudius and Vespasian; on the Boudiccan Revolt, which he tried to prevent; and on his troubled relationships with a series of governors and imperial bureaucrats, many of whom were cruel and corrupt. It is the story of one man's attempts to reconcile two profoundly different cultures, which fascinate and repel each other in equal measure, a story whose resonances reverberate down to our own times.