The Punic Wars are a favorite of military history buffs. Rome's three wars with Carthage were the beginnings of its empire extending beyond Italy, also Carthage was the only opponent Rome ever faced that was at the time its military and economic equal. Most of the Punic Wars fascination centers on t...
On the plane to San Francisco I polished off this new biography of Augustus/Caesar/Octavian/first hottie of the Roman republic, which was released to time with the 2,000th anniversary of his death on August 19. He’s one of my favourite historical figures: my birth month is named after him and I love...
despite its boring cover, HOW ROME FELL is a very tightly-written, evocative account of the fall of the first 'superpower' as Goldworthy subtitles his work. starting with Marcus Aurelius giving way to his disappointing and gladiatorial-games obsessed son, Commodus, a subject matter the topic of the ...
This is not an easy book to write, the biography of Caesar. The man who died at the hands of many but whose life has been revived repeatedly by numerous pens and brushes. From Plutarch, to Suetonius, to Shakespeare, to Gérôme, to the Hollywood or TV studios, to the Asterix cartoons…, we have a wh...
Book was well written and informative but strayed from the topic too often. It told about general political situation in Rome and stuff. I don't know much about Rome and all the names just got me confused.
Well written, well documented. Makes the reader part of the narrative and doesn't get bog down into details that although interesting do not enhance the overall picture of these brutal wars between two rival empires. Goldsworthy does procure a good basis to build on. My reading was focused principal...
Well documented. Clear, concise with lots of photographs, drawings, maps of the battles. It's a comprehensive atlas not a traditional atlas. One of the very useful books, helpful in figuring out when and where I wanted my characters to have been. I'm still using it and will again next year.
As Slate points out, it's been overshadowed by Schiff's book, but it's Goldsworthy so I'm sure it's good. Maybe a good companion piece.
mp3 - showroom read; unabridged; 27.5 hoursThis is a scholarly rendition and as such, is coming over rather dry. Thoroughly researched and the politics of the time excellently delivered but still not sure that I will wade through every word.ETA - This would be brilliant for university students but n...
Reading The Punic Wars, I was reminded of Rick Atkinson’s An Army at Dawn, which I had read just prior to this book. Both are largely straightforward and well written accounts of epochal wars and both have to do with campaigns in North Africa and Italy (if one were to stretch the comparison to inclu...
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