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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
Very much enjoyed this. Fun to read, maintains a neutral tone, and I like how the author sets the goal of only evaluating the life of Caesar and doesn't discuss the events after his death in great detail.
informative
slow-paced
An excellent delve into the life of Gaius Julius Caesar. This is a definitive work, a masterpiece of character, history and narrative.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
What a fantastic scholastic work! Presented as an attempt to reconstruct the events of Caesar's life, Goldsworthy succeeds magnificently. By no means is this an easy read or intended for a casual reader. That is not to say that this book is not accessible, I would only recommend this to someone with more than a passing intrest in Roman history.
This book demands and earns your attention and time. Meticulous research and a professorial style culminate in a not always easy to read but always rewarding experince.
As a student of history, but having little exposure to this time period, I am glad to have started with this extraordinary biography.
This book demands and earns your attention and time. Meticulous research and a professorial style culminate in a not always easy to read but always rewarding experince.
As a student of history, but having little exposure to this time period, I am glad to have started with this extraordinary biography.
slow-paced
It took me literal years to get around to this but man, is it worth the wait. Goldsworthy is an academic who writes well, which makes for a solidly researched yet engaging text. He resolutely sticks to Caesar’s life, with a short history of the 30 years before it for context, then ends immediately following the assassination. Even with that, and even with some judicious skimming, this is not a short book. But it gives a very good look at standard academic consensus on Caesar’s life, which is invaluable.
Enthralling recount of the life of one of history's “Great Men”. Goldsworthy does a phenomenal jobs as usual in drawing the reader into the times and scenes of this turbulent period of history. His precise style of storytelling makes it easy for the reader to concentrate on the protagonist with just enough historical references and documentation. Great job.
Goldsworthy's biography on Julius Caesar is both insightful and full of details. It is bound to intrigue and excite both the professional historian and the casual reader. He balances Caesar's character in the light of the times he lived in making him more of a "product of his environment" rather than the exception to the rule. His insights in to Caesar's brilliance as a military tactician make it hard to put down this book during any of the battles, which take up a good half to two-thirds of the book. However, there is one drawback to this book, which makes me give it four stars instead of five. This is the first third of the book dealing with the time from Caesar's birth to the end of his consulship just before the Gallic campaigns. While I grant that there are a lot of holes in the historical record about this part of Caesar's life, it doesn't make up for the lack of polish and purpose that seem to pervade the rest of the biography. Because of this it may take some time for a casual reader to warm up to the book. In fact, Goldsworthy spends so much time defending or speculating on Caesar's life before Gaul that if one only knew Goldsworthy's book it would be hard to say what, if anything, Caesar did before Gaul. Despite this, it is an incredible read and I recommend it to anyone interested in Julius Caesar.