This is not a bad book by any means. I don't want to belittle it too much. I just feel that it had the opportunity to be something more. Say what you will about Bowersock's character assassination, at least it is scholarly and in-depth. This book seems to be written for the basic reader. It tries to offer a glimpse of what life was like at the time and explain the events without getting too in-depth. It seems rather over-simplified for my tastes. Still, it works well as a biography and if you aren't looking for a scholarly work then this book should be fine. The biggest problem with this book is a lack of citations. There are no footnotes or anything to indicate where information comes from. This might not be a problem if you're only reading it for entertainment, but if you're trying to use it for a paper or a base for further research you're going to be stuck. I also don't trust books that don't list their sources. In this day and age such a thing is unacceptable. If you're looking for a popular history of Julian then I'd recommend The Last Pagan. It is better written and it includes it's sources while still being entertaining. It is also newer and easier to find.