- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Sceptre; New edition edition (1 Aug 1987)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340412240
- ISBN-13: 978-0340412244
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 211,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
'He makes Augustus credible as a man: wily, ruthless, shrewd, generous, admirable' -- Andrew Sinclair, The Times 'A flawed, doubting, powerful man rises from the pages of history and imagination.' -- Douglas Dunn, Herald 'A great achievement' -- Joseph Farrell, Scotsman
Scotsman
'A great achievement'
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Make the reader believe totally,
By Marketa "Marketa" (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Augustus (Paperback)
It is perhaps one of the best books I have read. Even before my interest in Rome and Roman things was peaked I was given this book to read. I could not put it down. Written in the first person by Augustus himself it allows us, the reader, an unexpected intimacy with this enigma of a man. You cannot but help to admire and even like him, although, as any leader of that time he did things that we find shocking. The author makes us believe that the story is based on new writings recently found by archaeologists. I believed that bit of fiction for a short time after I had read it. I wanted to believe it. It is a great book, and a book that you will want to read over and over again. Allan Massie is a great writer and especially so with his Roman series.
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent summary of the reign of Rome's first Emperor.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Augustus (Paperback)
This is an impressive analysis of a man who literally made history. The Emperor Augustus was the first of the Roman Emperors, creating a system of government that lasted for four hundred years. Massie's book is neatly split into two parts. The first looks at Augustus' incredible rise to power over shadowing his more experienced rivals Cassius, Brutus, Cicero, Antony and Cleopatra. A breathless story of unbridled ambition, hope and ultimate success. The second part is more melancholy with the winner of the Mediteraneon accessing what he has lost in pursuit of that prize. This chapter examines Augustus' large family, the double dealing and partisanship that anyone familiar with I Claudius will recognise. Yes, the language is colloquial which makes it an accessible read but does grate after a while and the story told in the first person does detract from what at the time must have been an inexplicable rise to power. However these are minor criticisms. No one has got as close to the psyche of Augustus Caesar as Allan Massie. Well worth a look.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Is this about Augustus?,
By
This review is from: Augustus (Paperback)
I'm no expert on Augustus, but his `lost' memoirs were slightly `lost' on me. From all the official biographies I have read of the emperor, this book doesn't seem that believable. Allan Massie has got the tone of the book wrong and certainly doesn't explain the transformation of the meek Octavian into the dashing Augustus.
That actually was the reason I'd bought this book. I wanted to see how that transition is dealt with by the author. Octavian was a soft-spoken but firm republican, by most accounts from the time of Julius Caesar (his great uncle), opposed to having a king or an emperor in Rome. And yet HE was the first Roman Emperor! Was that what he always wanted or did something turn in his head? Only Augustus himself would've known that, I know, but Allan Massie has been convincing in other historical accounts such as - `I Claudius'. The tone of that book was very much in keeping with the historical accounts of and by Claudius. Reading this book however, I could neither see nor hear Augustus. Perhaps I'm demanding too much from a work of fiction written over two thousand years after the emperor's death. Perhaps its in-keeping with the new trend in historical novels - change the facts to make them sexy.
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