Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1039 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 656 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Emperor - Field of Swords takes Colin Iggulden's sequence of novels about the rise of Julius Caesar to a point where Caesar is forced to bid for mastery of the Roman world. Iggulden is intelligent and precise about the internal dynamics of the triumvirate of Caesar, the elderly rich Crassus and the proud Pompey. This alliance was never more than pragmatic and there was always going to be a settling of accounts--thus far so good, but Iggulden's idealizing of Caesar leads him at times into ignoring the sheer complexity of the affairs of the late Republic. This is a version of Rome which downplays the alliance of street and snob, and treats Caesar as if he were always an apostle of order--it is a historical novel which plays worrying games with historical fact.

Iggulden is fascinating on Caesar as governor and general--in the areas, that is, where we have the words of the man himself, rather than the spin put on his actions by his enemies. There is a real sense here of the practicalities of ancient warfare, of hard footslogging in difficult terrain and planning supplies for the long haul of sieges and forced marches - Iggulden may oversimplify politics, but he is intelligent about battle. --Roz Kaveney

The Times
‘If you liked Gladiator, you’ll love Emperor’

Guardian
‘The great events and breathtaking brutality of the times are brought lavishly to life.’

Customer Reviews

Emporer series
This is a review based not just on "The Field of Swords" (third installment) but the entire quadrilogy. Whether you love ancient history fiction or non fiction you'll enjoy this book and the entire series. For fiction lovers who haven't yet tread through the pages of historical epics, than this is a great series to begin the adventure.

The recreation of the brutality of the battles and the atmosphere of ancient cities is realistic. The author almost transports you to another world.

Be warned though, if you like your protagonist a hero/heroine, you'll be badly disappointed. The primary character (Juluis) begins the journey in the first book "gates of rome" as an innocent boy. By the third installment, he has become a war mongering monster, whose selfish drive towards world domination is like a cancer. The character looses a lot of faith as the story progresses and probably as I have found, you will hate him with every page turn. He shows total disregard for his family, friends and the men who fought alongside him.

Still, the supporting characters are wonderful. Tuburk, Renius and the old man Cabera are just some of the wonderful characters along with the familiar Pompeii and Crassus.

A great series, none the less.

Great book
A tremendously exciting book that is also more useful than a history lesson at school.

The story of Caesar just thunders on!
The Field of Swords is the third book in Conn Iggulden's Emperor series. It follows Julius' time away from Rome, as he strives to conquer Gaul and the Britons. The tale is filled with great battles, triunphs, passion and tragedy. Iggulden follows Caesar's life as accurately as possible (when remembering that this is a fictional novel) and takes us on breathtaking journey of domination and conquest.

Despite this being the third book in an already terrific series, Iggulden manages to keep the reader interested with consumate ease. This book is terrifically gripping and an absolute joy to read. Being a later comer to the series I am delighted to find that I don't have to wait for the next and final book in the series to be written, it's already been done!

For fans of historical fiction this is a must read and if this series is anything to go by, it's worth reading any historical novel that Mr Iggulden writes. Superb!