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readingtheend's review against another edition
3.0
this was fine! I feel like Tom Holland didn't do a great job of distinguishing between things that were scurrilous rumors and things that we actually now believe to be true. which would have been helpful! now I have this whole list of things I have to look up to find out if they are true.
didactylos's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.5
The first book I have ever read on the Caesars that allowed me to make sense of it all. Holland relates things clearly to today and therefore parallels help undrstadning. A long and sustained read needed, but very informative.
jmatkinson1's review against another edition
4.0
From the rise of Julius Caesar to the death of Nero, five generations of the same family ruled Rome. The greatest of all was Augustus, a living God, whose machinations influenced public policy and whose belief in power meant that he manipulated his extended family to his own ends. In-fighting, murder, incest thread through the lives of the family of Augustus and in the end the family imploded. Nero, the final Emperor, was deposed and with his passing a new era dawned for Rome as a republic once more.
This book is not a doorstop, it is actually a very readable length. Holland covered a lot of history, a lot of scandal and makes many suppositions. The true story of the Caesars is shocking and quite venal and Holland does not shy away from the nasty end of happenings. My only complaint is one which is fairly common in recent history books which appeal the more populist end of the market and that is that fact and fiction tend to blur at times. There is much interpretation of actions in terms of thoughts and feelings which are not necessarily backed by contemporaneous sources and therefore should be treated as fictional interpretations rather than fact. However that is a minor quibble because the actual material Holland has to work with is so juicy and almost fictitious in its outrage that this is a great read as well as being a well-researched tome.
This book is not a doorstop, it is actually a very readable length. Holland covered a lot of history, a lot of scandal and makes many suppositions. The true story of the Caesars is shocking and quite venal and Holland does not shy away from the nasty end of happenings. My only complaint is one which is fairly common in recent history books which appeal the more populist end of the market and that is that fact and fiction tend to blur at times. There is much interpretation of actions in terms of thoughts and feelings which are not necessarily backed by contemporaneous sources and therefore should be treated as fictional interpretations rather than fact. However that is a minor quibble because the actual material Holland has to work with is so juicy and almost fictitious in its outrage that this is a great read as well as being a well-researched tome.
judyward's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating examination of the lives and reigns of the first five Roman emperors. Well written and effortlessly holds the attention of the reader. I will be looking for other books by Tom Holland.
kmoses87's review against another edition
3.0
I liked how in depth the boom was, and I definitely learned things about Rome and the emperors that I didn't know before. My only complaint is that sometimes the writing strayed a bit off topic, so I felt it could have been better organized.