Rating: 
Summary: Hagiography versus history
Review: This is a good book, but not as good as the others in the series. The story is compelling; the research is remarkable, but in my view the book suffers from three main flaws. The first, and least, is a truly staggering number of typographical errors. The second is the one which marred my enjoyment most - there is almost no character development of the sort which made the first two novels in particular so riveting. With the exception of the Cato-Marcia-Hortensius story, which took my breath away, there is almost none of the enthralling human interplay we found in the earlier books. The third flaw, which was the most irritating, was that McCullough has entirely lost the objectivity with which she so wonderfully portrayed Marius and Sulla and all the many facets of their characters. McCullough will do anything to demonstrate Caesar was not just a God, but a Saint, to the extent of twisting historical facts to make other people appear responsible for acts she prefers not to attribute to her hero. In her view Caesar is doing the Gauls a favour, if only they'd stop fighting his invasion and see sense. The Senate practically forced him to cross the Rubicon, poor misunderstood lad. Atrocities against the Gauls were performed without his knowledge, and very cross he was about it too. She even invents a son for Caesar, she says to support her contention that he was not incapable of siring children - for which she cites no evidence whatsoever. McCullough's research is extraordinary, but it is a shame she lets her partisanship get in the way of the story.
Rating: 
Summary: excellent historical novel!
Review: Excellent book! I really enjoyed the historical accuracy. Colleen McCullough paints a very realistic picture of what these people were really like.
Rating: 
Summary: riveting read, but so many typos!
Review: I'm a great Colleen McCollough fan, and this book gripped me as much as the other Masters of Rome books did. It really manages to bring alive a subject that could have become quite dry. The large number of characters and names is handled very cleverly and the amount of research that must have been required comes through in the lavish detail. Because I enjoyed the story so much, the amazing amount of typos was therefore doubly irritating - I suspect the book was scanned from print, which always causes the kind of typos this book is littered with. Most publishers know this and double check scanned books! I am sorry that an author as succesful as McCollough is not treated more carefully by her publishers. I bought a different edition than the one displayed here, which even had an erroneous full stop in the author's name on the cover! Nonetheless, the book was an excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: A fun I, CLAUDIUS prequel
Review: For those of us non-scholars who loved I CLAUDIUS, this is another great historical novel.While not quite a stand alone work (you really must know some Roman History to enjoy this book) it is an engrossing recreation of some of the last years of the Roman Republic. Details of the Roman Senators' maneuvers against Caesar have some very interesting parallels with the recent mayhem in Washington, D.C. Surely this must have been the author's intention! I'm hooked, and now I'm off to read the others in the series. Note: There are an alarming number of typos in this edition. The author has done such a wonderful job of research--you'd think a few more copy editors would check things out before it went to mass market printing.
Rating:
Summary: Quite fascinating...
Review: By some miracle of odd timing, I was reading Caesar's Commentaries (both Gaul and Bello Civili) just a week or so before I picked up this book. How charming! The Commentaries are fascinating in a dry, measured way. This book made the material alive and beautifully captures the world that was Rome. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: This wonderful series seems to be running out of steam.
Review: I have read and passionately enjoyed all five of McCullough's "Masters of Rome" novels -- but I am sorry to say that in "Caesar" the quality of her writing (never a strong point) has declined to the level of pulp fiction. Sentence fragments, cliches, and repetition abound. Characterization has declined to practically nil. The only thing that kept me going was my fascination with Roman history, politics, and military science -- and in this area, McCullough continues to amaze me with her meticulous research. She would be well-advised, however, to remember that these books are supposed to be novels -- and novels need strong plots and characters to keep them going. Coasting on Caesar's "Commentaries" is cheating. I sincerely hope she puts some more time and effort into "The October Horse."
Rating:
Summary: Terrific story, terrific research, sloppy editing
Review: I'm too caught up in this series to give a fair review of this single book. I'm amazed at the level of reasearch, and Ms. McCullough's ability to weave it into a very tellable tale. None of her characters throughout the series have been duplicates or hollow. You feel like you know each of them and as they pass from the parade, you miss them as much as you would if they were actual friends. But one thing repeatedly shattered my enjoyment and snatched me back from Gaul of the Longhairs to modern-day Nevada -- the poor editing. Spelling errors are the product of our dependence on mechanical checkers, certainly. And I don't usually mind sentence fragments when they are done for a purpose. But "Caesar" contains far too many that are simply sloppy editing. I didn't notice the problem in her previous work. That said, I'm impatiently awaiting "The October Horse." I love these books and recommend them to anyone who can wade through the Latin names.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, gripping, absorbing!
Review: One thing every reader in the "Ceasar" series will share upon finishing this book is anticipation of the next. Colleen has the ability of bringing history to life. Although some "so called history buffs" will argue the genuineness of the human emotions expressed in her characters, this history zealot preferrs to engross himself in the story telling. Each of the five books in the series can stand on its own. However, once you have become a McCullough fan, there is no way you will be able to read just one. I have read each book at least threes times and am anxiously awaiting the next book in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Average re-telling of Gallic wars.
Review: My opinion of this novel is that the book was average and hard to get through. In a word, it was not as entertaining as I thought it might be and was disappointed by the constant references to the Commentaries of the Gallic wars. Don't get me wrong, I like Roman History, but Caesar was dry. It sometimes reads like a translation and with another book that focused on story rather than history at the ready I may have picked an alternative. If you've got a big test on Roman History coming up and you need to study, then pick this book. Otherwise, watch a soap.
Rating:
Summary: Massive, complex, fascinating, marred by presentation
Review: This fascinating book is definitely for those with plenty of spare time to immerse themselves in the complexities of Roman politics. (843 pages). The historically challenged reader may find the political aspects of democratic Roman life quite difficult to comprehend with its mix of religion, economic power, bloodlines, influence, party affiliation, class and citizenship; with a healthy dose of superstition, ignorance and naivete typical of the historical age, thrown in. However perseverance will reward the reader with a colorful (spelling is American English) picture of one of the world's greatest military tacticians. McCullough has editorially taken Caeser's side in interpreting his motives, against the plotting scheming Senators whose defence of the Republic was obviously motivated by corruption, jealousy and anti-monarchist conservatism. This book has inspired me to locate more of the historical novels about this period, but I have reservations about tackling another McCullough tome which may try to include too much authoritive research into the fabric of the story. There is a fine balance between authenticity and turgidity and the telling of a good yarn (the point of a novel surely). The mechanism of using Caeser's communications made for long dry narratives (at one point he doesn't even read one of the letters from home but destroys it unread - thankfully!) Some of the campaigns get overwhelmed in the preparation and consultation and motivation, only to be underwhelmed in the execution of the battles - there's a very limited amount of descriptive atmosphere. McCullough has chosen rather to describe the campaigns more from the shrewd calculating perspective of the military leader; removed often from the action he is perpetrating on his soldiers and the citizens and armies of his enemies. In the paperback form, the maps are often so poorly reproduced as to be of no assistance and the reader would be well advised to peruse the extensive glossary before and (constantly) during the reading. This would have to have been the worst presented publication in terms of spelling errors, omissions of words and typographical errors I have ever seen outside of school student essays. In the 843 pages there were no fewer than 45 glaring bloopers. A selection follows: ..latrine situated above a steam of running water... After which making lover to him... ..so shoved along that a single canvas sails were as swollen... We'll been with you... A decision made double necessary... ..hideous moutain terrain... We prate of being untied (united)... I don't intent another Avaricum... ..Cruio's (Curio's)... Die he take them with him... .. carrying his folded stood (stool)... ..I am the consul with the faces (fasces)... ..hers on (her son)... ..the river Rubicorn... ..a full meeting of the Seante (Senate)... ..and commander a fleet.. (commandeer)... These unforgiveable errors perhaps underline the danger of using only a spell-checker to proof read. One hopes that the immense effort of the author that has gone into such a work will be better matched by the publishers who in my opinion have serious work to do in redressing this situation.
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