Rating: 
Summary: An enormously ambitious but flawed effort
Review: The story enthralled me from the fascinating prehistoric era up to the early Middle Ages. The chapter on the Black Death was amazingly vivid! Then, disappointingly, the story got bogged down in the complex political intrigues surrounding the Wars of the Roses and I lost interest. In fact, I never did manage to slog through the rest of it. I've been an Anglophile and an avid student of British history for most of my life. This book is not recommended for people like myself who have more than a passing acquaintance with the historical events that shaped England. I also found highly suspect the idea that character traits (like deceitfulness or faithlessness) could persist through dozens of generations of one family. But it does make me wonder what the earliest generations of my own family might have been like... I suppose that the best quality about the book was the sense of a linkage to the past, that we're descended from real people who might have lived lives similar to the characters in the story.
Rating: 
Summary: A breathtaking novel
Review: Sarum is an enormously ambitious work. Sarum is the ancient name for Salisbury and the author writes a fictionalized history of Salisbury that starts in pre-historical times and continues to 1987. That he succeeds in weaving such a complicated tapestry is a testament to his extraordinary research, his wonderfully firm grasp of human personality, and his fast-paced dramatic writing. Sarum is many things but it is most of all a good read.By lacing his narrative with so much believable period detail, he makes the universals of his story immediate and fresh. The novel involves five different families as they rise and fall in fortune throughout the ages of Sarum. Especially vibrant are Rutherford's portraits of significant characters in the Mason family. The author may have a special understanding of this family because they are artisans. Nooma-ti, the physically homely founder of the family, is in charge of the construction of Stonehenge. His dedication to his craft and his personal problems with his adulterous wife are riveting. Even more powerful, indeed the most fascinating accomplishment in his work, is the portrait of medieval architect Osmund Mason. Like his distant ancestor, Osmund is physically unprepossessing and like him, he finds relief in his art. On two of the most important occasions of his life, Osmund seizes victory from defeat by transforming frustration and humiliation into art. As Rutherford skillfully takes Sarum into the modern era, he dramatizes the enormous changes that take place as the effect countries, families, and individuals, along with the emotional constants that characterize the human personality in any culture.
Rating: 
Summary: Forget the size of it
Review: This is a well written historical novel. It spans a huge period in history, from 10,000 years before Christ until the 1980's. Sarum follows the fortunes and failures of 6 families in the Salisbury area of England. While this book is quite long, it is easy to look past that as each chapter is broken down into a certain era of history. Rutherford takes a complex idea and makes it so well written that one tends to forget how long it is. This is one of those books where you can pick it up and find yourself lost in the past. At times it will be quite hard to put it down. Sarum is also full of fun little tidbits such as how people acquired their last names in the UK. The most amazing and best part of Sarum, is how Rutherford weaves his characters and plot lines into actual events in history. Read about his take on how Stonehenge was built (quite ingenious) to the Roman conquest and settlement of Britain to the English Civil War and its affects on everyday Brits. This is one book that is well worth the money. If you are a fan of historical novels you will appreciate it. If you are a fan of British history you will appreciate it. If you are a fan of great writing and look past page amount, you will appreciate it.
Rating:
Summary: Size Doesn't Matter
Review: Other reviewers have dealt with the plot, characters and themes, so I am going to concentrate on how to cope with this book. At 1330 pages, it's very long. Allow 2 months to read it, and if you cannot clear at least 35 pages a day, don't pick it up that day. Run some contrasting short books alongside it (I read some Carson McCullers, for example) so that you won't feel bored/depressed/guilty while scrabbling along. Is it worth reading? Definitely. It has its faults, but is an immensely worthy book. Is that enough? Sure. You will get some good stories and a lot of history. Rutherfurd subtitled it "The Novel of England", asserting that "Sarum is a novel and to see it as anything else would be a mistake." 22,000 years of love, lust, envy, hatred, success, failure are chronicled in pot-boilerish narrative. It's mostly skilful, sometimes frankly two-dimensional. A couple of chapters run to as much as 150-200 pages, luckily with internal breaks. They have been compared to discrete novellas, but the fictional families unify the novel. Rutherfurd sets his imaginary families "amongst people and events that either did exist, or might have done." People have questioned his selection of dates, but each enshrines a landmark of English history. Concerned with his characters' physical survival above all, there is admittedly too much on drainage and masonry. But this is a minor quibble. Rutherfurd provides a terrific canvas of political, social, religious, cultural, and industrial events. Along the way, he brings in important figures like Charlemagne and major literary works, e.g., Beowulf. You might question some of the relevance, but it's mostly rewarding - and I assure you, there's plenty to be learned from this book. Finishing it was a struggle, but I'm glad I did. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Doing the Impossible
Review: I have often wondered about the almost endless stream of ancestors which have preceded me. Piecing together my own roots all the way back into prehistory is completely impossible; however, with Edward Rutherfurd I believe I have discovered the next best thing. Reading along through the ages with Rutherfurd's chosen families not only gives one an intimate view on technological advances, political changes, and religious upheavals. A careful reading also gives you a chance to see how your own family's history might have unfolded. I have always found that I enjoyed books best that not only drew me into their stories, but sparked my imagination to envision stories of my own. It would take me an entire lifetime to write a book this big; fortunately, it only takes me a few weeks to read one. I strongly encourage potential readers to take the plunge and not be put off by the book's length. Even after reading several hundred pages, you will still wish that you could find out more about the lives of many of the poignant characters he creates. As a bonus, the average person will find his or her knowledge of English history greatly, and entertainingly, enhanced.
Rating:
Summary: What the last one said, plus some
Review: I'm not giving this book 5 stars just because Rutherford managed to keep it less than 2000 pages. I'm giving it those stars because I managed to enjoy the book. Although it doesn't qualify precisely as fictionalized history throughout, it comes close overall and actually is through most of it. Even for people who consider themselves well schooled in history there's bound to be a lot of minutia that slips by for any piece of geography. Rutherford fills in the gaps for the Salsbury plains and does it with fact where possible, speculation where not possible. And he does it with consistent panache. I'd never given much thought to the details of the building of Salsbury Cathedral, though I certainly was awed, visiting it. Sarum carried me through generations of that immediate period and place of the building in a way that caused me to inevitably have more respect and thought for the builders. Similarly for myriad other incidents and monuments of the area over 20,000 years. Stonehenge, Roman occupation, Viking raids, early Christianity, the bloody reigns of Bloody Mary and others. Make a career of reading this book if need be, but read it.
Rating:
Summary: Well researched and entertaining
Review: I have never been to England but I have been interested in European history, especially English history, for a number of years. I found the book to be an interesting blend of fact and fancy. Enough history to be intelligent, enough creativity with the characters to keep you reading.
Rating:
Summary: The Romans Conquered England
Review: The Romans conquered England but couldn't conquer the Scots! Sarum is the Roman name given to the English town of Salisbury. This book is a historical novel, told much in the same way as Michener's The Source. The characters are fictional, the history true. The story begins with how Britain became populated at the dawn of prehistory, how it became an island. The story ends in the twentieth century with the 404 ft spire, (tallest in Britain), of Salisbury Cathedral lying in near ruin. In between those events, is the story of stonehenge which is proximal to the modern town. This book is a great primer of British history, especially for someone like me who has an interest in european history but has never been schooled in it. I read this book nearly two decades ago, but it has somehow been filed away in my subconscious all those years. Possibly, given the popularity of the book when it was published in 1987, Prince Charles raised the millions of pounds sterling to repair Salisbury Cathedral. The author was born and raised there, christened in the cathedral. The emperor Hadrian ordered a wall to be built in 122-123 A.D. to keep the barbarians, those wild, unruly Scots out! Hadrian's wall roughly approximates the present border of Scotland and England. Jesus's apostle, St. Andrew, has at least some of his bones in Scotland today. St. Rule was in charge of these relics in Patras, Greece where St. Andrew was crucified on a diagonal cross. (Where St. Andrew's is located today roughly approximates where St. Rule landed in Scotland). He had disobeyed an order of Constantine to bring them to Constantinople because he had been warned in a dream by an angel to bring them to the farthest reaches of the known world, which in 300-340 A.D. was Scotland. The modern Scottish flag has been around as early as 1200 A.D.; it depicts the white diagonal cross, St. Andrew's cross, on a blue background which represents the color of the sky the day St. Andrew died. That's not in this book, but it's my favorite Scottish, true, story! One that you need to know too!
Rating: 
Summary: The worst book I've ever read!
Review: I have to admit that I haven't finished the book (yet) but at page 836, I think I've read enough to say that this is a horrible book. I can't comprehend how anyone would voluntarily read it AND even more amazingly, read it to the end. This is the book used for torture in my British Lit class, and I can honestly say that the ratio of people that actually enjoy the book to people that are already making plans to burn it once the year is over, is about 1 to 200. Admittedly, I'm not a history buff, and perhaps those are the only people that can enjoy such a book. But to my thinking, anyone that interested in history must already know it very well, so all the boring passages trying to cram decades of history in while the actual characters and plot sit by and wait, would seem superfluous. If anything could save this book, it would be captivating characters and a gripping plot. Unfortunately, Sarum has neither of these. The characters are hackneyed, lacking depth and anything to interest the reader. No character lasts longer than a chapter. The flood of names and half-developed personalities don't stop throughout the book. So many characters share the same one-dimensional personality with their ancestors in preceding chapters, that it just seems like the author got tired of trying to invent new characters. The main fault with this book is that it invariably bores all but the most dedicated of readers. Anyone looking for a book that mixes accurate history with engaging stories and vivid characters had better look elsewhere. Even all the unnecessary sex scenes are not enough to rouse the interest of my fellow students, which is saying a lot. I would not recommend this book to anyone, and would even go to great lengths to prevent anyone from subjecting themselves through the hellish nightmare of reading this book. There are better books out there; don't waste your time or money on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: ambitious, expansive, yet ultimately a wee let down
Review: Ah, to the days when publishers let you write a book longer than 384 pages! This book essentially follows five different family's for a period of 10,000 years. Each family has their own traits and talents that are passed through the generations. Rutherford sets out to create an epic masterpiece, but in rush (lol at 1000 pages!) to achieve that aim, he loses "heart". I did not care about these people, but was kept at a distance. The Wilsons, the Godfreys, the Masons, the Porteuses and Schockleys never really come to life for me. The five families fates and fortunate interweave from primitive man to medieval Knights and ladies, through England's blood civil war to modern man. The closer he get to modern man the more steam he seems to lose. It's rich historical chronicle, that just misses.
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