- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Sceptre; paperback / softback edition (2 Jun 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340599103
- ISBN-13: 978-0340599105
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 303,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
'To take the conspiracy against Julius Caesar - one of the most famous murder plots in history - and make of it something fresh and exciting is no small feat. This is what Allan Massie has done in this fine novel which should appeal equally to those who know their Roman history and those for whom it is only a cloudy rumour of remote events' Evening Standard
'Massie's achievement is to infuse the mythical emperor with blood...he invigorates his characters with voices that seem to echo the present, not the past, and which are utterly convincing...a piece of bravura invention' Independent
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Massie brings to life the period of Caesar's dictatorship for life and his assassination. He tells the story from the outside, using one of Caesar's most trusted generals, a noble from an old family, as narrator. This device gives the reader a good sense of how the Roman aristocracy saw Caesar's rise to power and why some thought that he had to be killed.
What this book is not is a view of Caesar from the inside. We never really learn what drives him or why he left himself open to murder the way he did. That's for another novel.
Massie is very effective in emplying modern, even slangy diction, in a believable way. He is also strong on conveying a feeling of what daily life in Rome was like. And he seems to know his facts.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Decimus Marcus Brutus, aka Mouse. The narrator, and one of those responsible for stabbing Caesar to death (don't worry, this isn't giving the story away). The general's perspective is so humble and inward-looking that I soon felt I knew him as a friend. Every relationship has been masterfully crafted, and Caesar himself seems a god-incarnate - just right. The grim inevitability of it all held me until the last - Mouse both loved and hated Caesar because he knew just as Caesar was the cause of his rise, he would be the man behind his fall.
Be aware that sex is very prevalent, generally dealt with well in my opinion; and that although this novel has only one swear word (as far as I can remember - possibly discounting the sex), it is the single best use of an expletive I have ever read.
But then who ever said in Rome they were abstinent, tea-total and kind-mouthed? Massie probably gets it just right, a difficult task.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There is nothing new here but Massie tells the tale from an enriching perspective; from the viewpoint of one of Caeser's lieutenants, Decimus Brutus who the reader comes to know intimately, and admires tremendously. It's high tragedy by the time the assassination looms. There is tenderness in this deeply personal take on the violent demise of the great man. The book is perhaps a little sluggish in the first half but it's never less than perfectly readable.
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