Adrian Keith Goldsworthy's "Caesar: The Life and Times of the Greatest Conqueror in History"

W. C. Blasdell Jr.: This was a good book about the life of Julius Caesar. I have read a lot of books about Roman history and enjoyed it.

United States on Sep 17, 2023

Ron: Very good information about Caesar's life and times. Doesn't bog you down in unimportant minutia but is quite inclusive. Where I had to deduct a point is in the editing. Time and time again sentences were run together without periods, causing one to have to decipher the meaning and lose the flow of the narrative. Other editing issues exist, but most are not as intrusive as the lack of periods.

United States on Jun 13, 2023

swiss miss: Full of details. Easy to read. A pageturner.

Germany on Mar 15, 2023

Kai: Author has a great way of making the history he is writing interesting and with enough detail and length, can’t complain as the book is massive but always want more

United Kingdom on Feb 06, 2023

Christopher: As all of Adrian's books this is clearly written and very well researched. The references are detailed and the bibliography makes it easy to follow up on any further reading you might wish to pursue. His use of primary and secondary sources is varied and make for a very enjoyable and informative read about one of the most charismatic and influential men in Ancient history.

United Kingdom on Aug 03, 2022

Jose Garcia: Como entusiasta de la historia latina, había estado buscando éste título hace tiempo y si bien lo encontré en español, el precio era desorbitado, por dicha razón me aventuré a comprarlo en inglés y vaya que no me arrepiento.
Mis conocimientos realmente no son espectaculares y si pude hacerlo, creo que mucha gente podrá. Ciertamente fue desafiante en ciertas partes y un pequeño diccionario o tener un dispositivo con traductor me fue necesario, pero valió la pena.
El libro es ilustrativo, lleno de datos, se desvía únicamente lo justo para entender a César como un todo y si tomamos en cuenta que César vivió en un mundo cargado de sucesos trascendentes (Mario, Sila, guerras sociales, Mitrídates, Espartaco, Catalina, etc.) es impresionante como los logra conectar brevemente sin distraerse del actor principal.
Recomendado ampliamente para todo amante de la historia antigua, no se dejen impresionar por el inglés (obviamente deben tener bases pues también usa el idioma en toda su extensión) pues valdrá la pena cada segundo que pasen leyendo.

Mexico on Jul 02, 2020

CASSINI24: We are fortunate in that Caesar's life was well-documented during his own lifetime (by Caesar himself, and by Cicero amongst others) and by historians living not long after, such as Dio. So this account draws on a wide range of sources and is expertly narrated.

You can't help but be overawed by how much Caesar achieved in his action packed life, and how he did so without the logistics, communications and infrastructure that we take so much for granted in the modern world. The author dwells on his impressive leadership qualities (which included a reticence to punish his enemies, which was unusual for his time), his charisma and his incredible energy. But we are left wondering what Caesar was really like - despite being an extensive writer himself, Caesar was not given to self-reflection, and his copious accounts of his various military campaigns do not shed much light on the inner workings of his mind.

Caesar was a serial seducer of women, too, although it may come as a surprise to some readers that his affair with Cleopatra came near the end of his packed life, and occupies barely a chapter of this lengthy book.

I got the impression from this book that the...

United Kingdom on Aug 06, 2019

Charles Scott: That Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly read the literary works of Julius Caesar extensively, speaks volumes of the latter's influence on posterity centuries later. Author, Adrian Goldsworthy, in his highly acclaimed historical and biographical work entitled Caesar: Life of a Colossus advises us of this fact among others. Julius Caesar was born in the year 100 B.C. to a noble and aristocratic family which was well-connected in the Republic of Rome. He was intelligent and keenly perceptive about his social status. In addition, he had the additional benefit of pursuing a soundly tutored, logically focused, philosophical education, which would prepare him for the fast-track career of his choosing either as a civic-minded office holder or a uniformed military leader. Among his earlier achievements, he was appointed to the position of high priest. Go figure!
Later, he began to search for his true calling in life, practicing law as an advocate. He defended well-established, high-profile clients. But what most catapulted his career was serving in the capacity of a conquering military general. You might say that he had shown great potential for advancement in his chosen career path. He was...

United States on Apr 23, 2018

David Hoffman: There are, perhaps, only a handful of names from the ancient world that are still well known to this day. Among these, Gaius Julius Caesar must surely be one of the most familiar, even to those who don't know much about history. A strong case could be made that Caesar was the most influential secular figure in ancient times. The changes he made to the Roman state shaped the course of history and politics for the next two millennia. We still use the calendar he introduced in Rome, with only minor changes. His name is synonymous with king or ruler in many languages (Kaiser, Tsar, Czar, and possibly Shah). Caesar truly was a colossus among men.
Yet, in many ways, Caesar was an enigma. We know a lot about his policies and military campaigns from his own books and the writings of his contemporaries, yet his motives and ultimate designs remain a mystery. Did Caesar plan all along to overthrow the Roman Republic, or was he improvising, or was he an ambitious aristocrat in an age in which all the conventions were breaking down. Was he planning a major new campaign of conquest in the East when he was assassinated? Why did some of his supporters assassinate him? Did he intend to make...

United States on Apr 17, 2012