Asterix: Asterix in Belgium

Gaul was divided into three parts. No, four parts - for one small village of indomitable Gauls still held out against the Roman invaders. BOOK 24 Chief Vitalstatistix of the little Gaulish village holding out against the Roman legions is horrified to hear that Caesar has called the Belgian tribes, not the Gauls, the bravest he knows. With Asterix and Obelix, the chief goes off to confront the Belgians - who turn out to be very like the Gauls.

A cartoon drawn with such supreme artistry, and a text layered with such glorious wordplay, satire and historical and political allusion that no reader should ever feel like they've outgrown it.--TIME OUT, The Asterix books represent the very summit of our achievement as a literary race. In Asterix one finds all of human life. The fact that the books were written originally in French is no matter. I have read them all in many languages and, like all great literature, they are best in English. Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, Asterix's translators since the very beginning, have made great books into eternal flames.--THE TIMES

Rene Goscinny was born in Paris in 1926, and spent most of his childhood in Argentina, before eventually moving to Paris in 1951. He died in 1977. Albert Uderzo was born in 1927 in a small village in Marne, France. He met Rene Goscinny in 1951 and on 29 October 1959 their most famous creation, Asterix, made his first appearance on page 20 of Pilote. ASTERIX THE GAUL, their first album, was published in 1961 and there have now been 35 Asterix albums.