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Emperor: The Field of Swords
 
 

Emperor: The Field of Swords (Paperback)

by Conn Iggulden (Author) "Julius stood by the open window, gazing out over Spanish hills ..." (more)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Emperor: The Field of Swords + Emperor: The Gods of War (Emperor 4) + Emperor: The Death of Kings
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Product details

  • Paperback: 656 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd; Reprint edition (5 Sep 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007136943
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007136940
  • Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 11.2 x 4.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 796 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #17 in  Books > Fiction > Genre > Historical

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Emperor - Field of Swords takes Colin Iggulden's sequence of novels about the rise of Julius Caesar to a point where Caesar is forced to bid for mastery of the Roman world. Iggulden is intelligent and precise about the internal dynamics of the triumvirate of Caesar, the elderly rich Crassus and the proud Pompey. This alliance was never more than pragmatic and there was always going to be a settling of accounts--thus far so good, but Iggulden's idealizing of Caesar leads him at times into ignoring the sheer complexity of the affairs of the late Republic. This is a version of Rome which downplays the alliance of street and snob, and treats Caesar as if he were always an apostle of order--it is a historical novel which plays worrying games with historical fact.

Iggulden is fascinating on Caesar as governor and general--in the areas, that is, where we have the words of the man himself, rather than the spin put on his actions by his enemies. There is a real sense here of the practicalities of ancient warfare, of hard footslogging in difficult terrain and planning supplies for the long haul of sieges and forced marches - Iggulden may oversimplify politics, but he is intelligent about battle. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'If you liked Gladiator, you'll love Emperor' The Times 'A brilliant story -- I wish I'd written it. A novel of vivid characters, stunning action and unrelenting pace. It really is a terrific read.' Bernard Cornwell 'The great events and breathtaking brutality of the times are brought lavishly to life.' Guardian

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Customer Reviews

69 Reviews
5 star:
 (45)
4 star:
 (17)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (69 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly Addictive, 19 Nov 2007
By Mohamed Abdulmalik (Kingdom of Bahrain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have picked up the Wolfs of the Plains at Heathrow airport three weeks ago on my way back home and by the time I arrived I decided to order all the historical novels by Conn Iggulden. Now I am almost done with the third book in the Emperors series, the Filed of Swords, so my comment here relates to the whole series.

I have read many books by great authors who excel in bringing ancient events to life, but this guy is unbelievable. My advice is to start reading on a weekend or on a holiday as trying to read it during a working week can ruin your schedule.

I can not comment on the inconsistency of the historical events that many of my fellow readers have expressed their concern about as my knowledge of Roman history remains very general. However, I will say this, these books are of the highest quality as history based novels are concerned. The characters are vivid and the scenes are superbly described. The war scenes alone would get the book a five star rating.

A highly recommended read. A lot of fun.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, entertaining page-turner, 20 Jan 2005
By Budge Burgess (Kilmarnock, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
Volume three in the series devoted to the life and times of Julius Caesar. Here, we follow his political and military career from Spain to the conquest of Gaul and his abortive expedition into Britannia. Caesar had a well established political presence in Rome by the time he was given the freedom to pacify Gaul. Once engaged on this task, his star rose higher and higher, aided by Caesar's ability to manipulate news and spin a heady story for the people of Rome.

The cast of characters is well established now and Iggulden is able to leap backwards and forwards between the political chicanery and turmoil of Rome and the battlefields of Gaul, the Rhine frontier, and Britannia, sustaining both strands of the story quite effectively. Caesar was a great military leader - and it is clear that he had the personality to inspire his soldiers and drive them on to victory after victory. But Caesar was also a very ambitious man, politically. Indeed, given the bloody nature of Roman politics, ambition was probably a good survival strategy.

Iggulden manages to make the political in-fighting as exciting and well-paced as the military action - at the price of some over-simplification and a bit of judicious manipulation of history. As a piece of fiction, however, it continues to work quite well. In fact, there may be evidence of a bit more maturity and confidence creeping into his style in this volume, particularly given the more complicated nature of the plot he has to tackle this time.

"The Field of Swords" is an excellent page-turner - if you have read the first two volumes and enjoyed them, this one will not disappoint. If you haven't read the first two, I'd encourage you to start with "The Gates of Rome" to see if you like Iggulden's style and themes - you will lose too much of the back-plot and character building if you leap straight in to volume three

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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars 3 down 1 to go, 13 Nov 2005
Originally I bought Book 2 (Death) as a holiday read then, at the airport, discovered there was a Book 1 (Gates) with a third to come. So I bought Book 1 as well and groaned at the thought of 1300 or so pages to plough through on holiday. But I did so, thoroughly enjoyed them, and couldn't wait for Book 3. Now I've read it I can't wait for Book 4!
Iggulden has been heavily criticised for historical innacuracy by a few indignant reviewers and they all have a point. Anyone who just watched the BBC's "Rome", for example, would be immediately puzzled by the obvious generation gap between Caesar and Brutus. In the books they were inseperable childhood friends. Well, the BBC has got it right and Iggulden has chosen to ignore the truth for his own purpose.
But so what? I can't get indignant about it. If you want a cracking,exciting, page turning, easy to read historical tale then that's what you'll get. All the well deserved 4 and 5 star reviews bear testimony to that.
If you want greater accuracy with less excitement go for Christian Meier's "Caesar" and/or Tom Holland's "Rubicon". They're fascinating and I got them whilst reading the Iggulden trio on the recommendation of other reviewers.
There's room for all but if you don't particularly want to explore the man (Caesar)and the period further just read Iggulden's great stories and enjoy them for being just that - great stories.
3 down - 1 to go!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Conn Iggulden
This series of books was recommended by a friend. He loaned me the first one and I then bought the whole series. What more can I say, a superb read, entertaing and well-paced.
Published 16 days ago by Mr. M. W. Wabe

5.0 out of 5 stars Field of Swords Emperor Series
Book three of Conn Iggulden's four book Emperor series chronicles Gaius Julius Ceasar and his crack battle hardened Legions conquest of Gaul which will eventually bring him to... Read more
Published 2 months ago by J. Carroll

5.0 out of 5 stars FIELD OF SWORDS
The Emperor series of books are a great read, and I received FIELD OF SWORDS very quickly and in great condition
Published 4 months ago by leo

5.0 out of 5 stars The Begining Of The End of the Republic
Is it daft to compare this with the Star Wars films?

Well, follow me on this. The underlying politics in Star Wars is all about the Republic being ripped apart by the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Filthy Raider

5.0 out of 5 stars Field of Swords
This historical narrative is of a much higher order than some of the offerings presntly available in the genre. Read more
Published 6 months ago by c.a.leach

4.0 out of 5 stars The Field of Swords
Having first read The Conqueror Series I looked for another series by Conn Iggulden and have not been diappointed, and shall look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Published 6 months ago by Mr. H. P. Roberts

1.0 out of 5 stars Book for boys
The first question, at this place for review, is are you under 13?
The answer is that you must be, to read books of this cathegory! Read more
Published 12 months ago by docM

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning
After the other books in this series, and the author's Genghis series, I've become slightly immune to the effects this book has on its reader. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Seb

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books i have read in years
Quite simply this is one of the best books i have read in years. If you have any interest in Roman or military history then you must read this book. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Jan Sparber

5.0 out of 5 stars Quintissential Car Reading!
In their style of writing, certain books complement certain venues - two examples being Dawkins' books for coffee shop reading and Michael Palin's books for holidays. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. Tim D. Patmore

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